Equus World
by karkovice
Summary: Captain Samantha Carter discovers a new previously undetected planet that is part of the Stargate network; and when she, and the rest of SG-1 go to explore it, they discover it is inhabited by a civilization unlike any they've ever seen before. When a familiar menace threatens to take over the world, can SG-1 save the planet and its peace loving inhiabitants in time?
1. Chapter 1 - New Planet

**EQUUS WORLD**

**A STARGATE SG-1/MY LITTLE**

**PONY TALES CROSSOVER STORY**

**CHAPTER 1**

**NEW PLANET**

Captain Samantha Carter was in her laboratory at Stargate Command working on her laptop. Stargate Command, or the SGC, was located at the Cheyenne Mountain Fortress Complex in Colorado Springs, Colorado; and has been her home away from home for the last 3 years now. Ever since the new more powerful laptops were approved for military use, she has been able to store more information, and get more work done, a lot quicker and more efficiently than ever before.

Samantha Carter, or "Sam" to her friends, was a relatively tall blonde woman in her early thirties who has been in the Military since her early twenties, and has a long track record for distinctive service. She joyfully accepted her latest posting at the SGC with a certain sense of adventurism, but also for the chance to apply her knowledge in Astrophysics to the wonderful job of space exploration.

Her posting at the SGC was no ordinary one, however! Whoever was posted at the Cheyenne Mountain Complex was given a unique opportunity to be involved in something very special in the U.S. Military: The exploration of the Milky Way Galaxy by the means of a special porthole called The _Stargate! _The way The Stargate worked was pretty complex! It was essentially a device that opened up a wormhole to another planet that happened to have another Stargate. Once the wormhole was established, one simply walked through; and within seconds, they were transported hundreds, sometimes _thousands, _of light years to another planet, where they would simply emerge through the other Stargate. Captain Carter herself had been on several exploratory missions as part of the elite SG-1 Team, and she had encountered many interesting things, as well as met several friendly humanoid alien races.

_But _while most of the humanoid and non-humanoid alien races they've encountered were friendly, others were _not! _Such was the case with the Goa'uld, who were a race of really scary snakelike aliens who lived in symbiosis with humanoid hosts. Almost as soon as The Stargate Program was established, it was discovered that The Goa'uld had a long standing history with earth, going as far back as the times of the Great Pharaohs of ancient Egypt; where the Goa'uld portrayed themselves as some of the ancient Gods in order to control and subjugate the Egyptian population. The most notorious of these "false gods" were Ra and Apophis, who ruled with iron fists as they enslaved the Egyptians under their power.

Their rule would not last for long, however. Eventually, the Egyptians they had enslaved revolted, and drove both Ra and Apophis off of Earth. Shortly after Ra was killed, Apophis took over as the main Goa'uld System Lord; and has led a campaign of tyranny and destruction as he sought to take over the galaxy with his Armies of Jaffa soldiers. So far, Earth has not been a major target in his plans for conquest; but those at the SGC were fearful that that would soon change.

As great and wonderful as The Stargate Program is, the U.S. Government and The Military have decided to keep the entire operation top secret. They felt the general population of the United States; and the world, for that matter, was not ready for the revelation that there was confirmed life on other worlds. They also did not want to have widespread panic over the notion that the hostile Goa'uld may be out to conquer and enslave them someday. So far, their efforts to keep everything a secret have been successful, and they intend to keep it that way for as long as possible.

"This'd better be good!" came a serious voice from outside the doorway of the lab. Samantha Carter looked up to see the figure of her Commanding Officer, Colonel Jack O'Neill, leaning up against the door frame with his arms crossed, and an angry look on his face.

Col. O'Neill was in his early 40s with short greying hair, and has been the Commander of the SG-1 Team since the very beginning. He and Sam Carter haven't always gotten along, even though Jack thinks that Captain Carter is an invaluable member of his team. Col. O'Neill's life hasn't been the same since his only son accidentally shot and killed himself with his own loaded gun while playing with it. Since that day, Jack blamed himself for not making sure the gun was not loaded before leaving it lying around. His wife divorced him soon after that, not wanting to deal with his constant guilt after that freak accident. His posting at the SGC would give him a chance to rebuild his life.

"Nice to see you too, sir." She said in reply, forcing a smile.

"You realize that I had to cancel an _entire weekend _of fishing just to partake in your 'recent breakthrough'!?" he complained as he walked in the room. He was wearing his olive green SG-1 uniform to match that of Captain Carter's. Matter of fact, they almost always wore their SG-1 uniforms while on base!

"Trust me, sir, you'll think it was worth it." Carter said as she typed a few more keys on her laptop. "When I revised the database of gate addresses from the Alpha Sector of the galaxy, I noticed something _major _that we've overlooked. Once I calculated the known location of Stargate worlds, I've discovered that-"

"_Carter!"_ O'Neill interrupted with some irritation. "You _know _how much I value the work that you do, and that I think you're an invaluable member of the team; but you should _also _know me enough by now to realize that all of this… _science _stuff is WAAAAY over my head! The facts, madam! Just the _facts!"_

Sam Carter couldn't help but smile lightly at O'Neill's cliché reference. "_Yes, _sir! Take a look." He typed a few more keys on her laptop, and hit Enter. Her laptop screen showed a star chart, and a circle slowly appeared around a star that looked to be very close to The Sun. "A previously undetected, unexplored Stargate planet! Designated P3X-2G2…"

Col. O'Neill traced a line with his finger from the Solar System to the newly circled star. "Doesn't look very far from Earth, does it?"

"Not as far as Stargates go! It's only 22.5 light years away from Earth…"

Col. O'Neill raised his eyebrows. "I think it's worth checking out…"

"A M.A.L.P. is being prepared as we speak."

"Well, _great!" _Col. O'Neill said. "Let's head up to the Control Room." He pointed to the ceiling as he walked out of the lab. Captain Carter smiled briefly as she switched off her laptop and followed Col. O'Neill out.

* * *

In the Control Room of the SGC, the two other members of the SG-1 Team were gathered, waiting for the final preparations for the M.A.L.P. that was going to be sent to the newly discovered planet P3X-2G2 to be completed. They were Dr. Daniel Jackson, the resident Archaeologist and Egyptologist for the SGC, and the only civilian member on the base; and Teal'c, a mighty Jaffa warrior, and former First Prime of Apophis, and leader of his Jaffa Army.

Dr. Jackson was part of the original Stargate away mission that sent him, Col. O'Neill and a few others to Abydos, a world very much like the ancient Egypt of Earth. He was relatively skinny, had short brown hair and always wore glasses. He holds a PhD in Archaeology and is probably one of the better Egyptologists on Earth, which made him the perfect man for the job.

While exploring Abydos, it was later discovered that that world, and its population, were being controlled by Ra, a powerful Goa'uld System Lord. After Col. O'Neill and his men killed Ra, and freed the people of Abydos, Dr. Jackson announced that he was staying behind, because he fell in love with a beautiful Abydan girl named Sha'Uri, whom he would later marry. He returned to Earth, however, after Sha'Uri was captured by Apophis. He became a part of SG-1 not long after that, but vowed to find his wife and free her from Apophis' grasp.

Teal'c was a big, muscular Jaffa warrior who looked African American. He hails from the planet Chulak, the Jaffa home world, and served as First Prime to Apophis for many years. Like many Jaffa warriors, he kept his head clean shaven. He even had the golden symbol of Apophis embedded in his forehead identifying him as the former First Prime of The Serpent God. He broke rank from Apophis' Army soon after being convinced by Col. O'Neill that the Goa'uld System Lord he was serving was a false god. He came to Earth shortly after that where he would join SG-1 on their exploratory missions. While he did this, he made it his ultimate goal to free all of his Jaffa brethren from the tyranny and slavery of the Goa'uld System Lords.

General George Hammond, the Commanding Officer of the SGC, was also present. He was a balding man in his late fifties, and he oversaw the day to day operations of the base. As a General, he always wore his dress uniform while on base.

Captain Carter and Colonel O'Neill came up the winding staircase that lead to the Control Room.

"Hey, Jackson!" O'Neil called to the resident Archaeologist.

"Hey…" Jackson said as he barely glanced at the Colonel. He was pouring over some of his notes.

"Teal'c! How's it goin', big guy!?" O'Neill said as he slapped he big Jaffa's right shoulder.

"I am doing well, Col. O'Neill." Teal'c replied evenly. He even allowed himself a light smile. He didn't flinch, however, when O'Neill tapped him on the shoulder. He just kept his arms firmly clenched behind his back.

"You see? You _gotta _admire the guy's enthusiasm! It really _brightens _up the room, doesn't it?" O'Neill joked.

Teal'c simply raised his eyebrows, but said nothing.

Meanwhile, in the Stargate Room, two U.S. Army Engineers were still working on getting the M.A.L.P. ready. The Stargate Room was actually the remnants of an old ballistic missile silo that was decommissioned soon after The Cold War ended. It was refurbished to accommodate the Stargate. When all was done, one of the Engineers went to the intercom. "M.A.L.P.'s ready, sir!" he said into it.

"Understood." General Hammond said in reply. "Start dialing, Walter!"

"Yes, sir." Sergeant Walter Harriman said as he punched up the Dialing Program on his computer console. Sergeant Harriman was a simple, unassuming man who has been a part of the SGC since it began. He was a short man with almost no hair who wore glasses. Many on the base have compared him to Walter "Radar" O' Reilly of MASH fame; not only because he kind of looked like Radar; but like Radar, he seemed to know what someone was gonna say or do before they actually said or did it.

In the Stargate Room, the actual Stargate whined into action as it's symbol wheel started to spin as it dialed the pre programmed gate address. "Chevron One encoded!" Sgt. Walter announced as a lighted encoder at the top the Stargate wheel flashed when the first symbol was locked in. The Stargate would repeat this six more times.

"Chevron Seven LOCKED!" Sgt. Walter announced as the last symbol was encoded on the Stargate wheel. A giant WHOOSHing sound emanated from the Stargate as the vortex opened up. It literally looked like somebody has just dropped a large stone in a deep puddle of water as the wormhole was established. Once it stabilized, it looked like a giant pool of shimmering, rippling water.

"Send the M.A.L.P. through." General Hammond ordered.

"Yes, sir!" Sgt. Walter said as he activated the remote control mechanism to send the M.A.L.P. up the ramp and through the vortex of the Stargate. A sound similar to somebody passing through a sheet of thick, viscous fluid could be heard as the M.A.L.P. disappeared through the vortex.

Then Captain Carter went into action! She sat down at a computer console and activated the M.A.L.P. telemetry program. "We're receiving telemetry!" she announced as the first images from the other side slowly appeared on her computer screen.

"Looks like the Stargate's located on the top of a _mountain." _Dr. Jackson announced as he looked at the terrain imagery. The M.A.L.P. _did_, in fact, look to be on a downslope; thus indicating that the Stargate on the planet was on the top of a hill or mountainside. They also noticed lush, green trees all around; and the sky looked to be cloud covered.

"Ambient temperature… 21 degrees Celcius…" Captain Carter announced. "Conventional oxygen/nitrogen atmosphere… Little to no prevalent pollution or toxins in the air…"

"The D.H.D. doesn't look to be very well maintained." Dr. Jackson commented.

The Dial Home Device, or D.H.D., of the Stargate on the planet did not, in fact, look clean; as it was covered with all sorts of forest debris.

"It would indicate that this is _not_ a Goa'uld controlled world." Captain Carter stated.

"Which is _always _a good thing!" Col. O'Neill said happily.

"Indeed." Teal'c said simply, allowing himself to smile slightly.

"_So, _whoever lives there mustn't know about the Stargate, or know how to _use _it…" Dr. Jackson said.

"_If _anybody lives there…" Captain Carter said.

Col. O'Neill then noticed something on the computer screen everybody else overlooked. "Wait a _second!"_

"What?" Captain Carter questioned.

"Pan the camera to the upper right hand quadrant and zoom in." Col. O'Neill ordered as he pointed to the computer screen.

Captain Carter did as Col. O'Neill ordered, and was surprised at what she saw. "Oh my _God! _HOUSES!"

"_Human _houses!" Dr. Jackson exclaimed.

Teal'c simply raised his eyebrows and said nothing.

General Hammond approached the computer to see what SG-1 saw. He was equally surprised to see the shape of houses at the bottom of the mountainside that looked very similar to conventional houses on Earth.

"We could be looking at another planet inhabited by _humans, _or _humanoids _at least." Captain Carter said happily.

"_General" _Col. O' Neill began. "We've _gotta _check this out!"

After thinking it over for a few seconds, he finally nodded. "All right, SG-1. You have a go. Go get ready!" He then ordered.

With this, the entire SG-1 Team left the Control Room to prepare for their away mission to the planet P3X-2G2 to discover what was there.


	2. Chapter 2 - Other Worldly Surprise

**CHAPTER 2**

**OTHER WORLDLY SURPRISE**

That syrupy sound could be heard as the SG-1 team emerged from the wormhole of the Stargate. The wormhole then WHOOSHed closed as the link between P3X-2G2 and Earth was severed. They would have to use the DHD to re-establish the wormhole later on to get back to Earth.

They carried all of the necessary gear and supplies for a proper exploration of the planet. Carter and O'Neill carried their Military Issue P-90 automatic machine guns for protection while Teal'c carried the Jaffa staff weapon that was given to him when he joined the Jaffa Army. Dr. Jackson preferred to go weaponless.

They looked at their surroundings. They were obviously in a forested area that was nowhere near any town, village or settlement. It looked to be early spring, for the trees did not have much in the way of lush green leaves, though birds could be heard singing here and there. A slight breeze could be felt, but it was all the more comfortable.

Even though the sky was cloud covered, Col. O'Neill put on his Military issue sunglasses. "All right. Let's see if we can get a closer look at those houses." He said as he pointed, then led his group down the slope of the mountain.

* * *

A few minutes later, they found a hillside that provided cover for them. Protocol dictated that first contact with any alien civilization was prohibited, unless it was discovered that they were as equally as advanced as Earth, or close enough to it.

"Okay. Let's see what the natives look like, shall we?" Col. O'Neill said as he brought out a pair of long range binoculars. He aimed them in the direction of the houses. They were close enough to be able to see what the local population looked like with ease. For several seconds, Col. O'Neill just continued gazing into the binoculars, but said nothing. Captain Carter noticed his jaw drop. "Well?" she asked. Teal'c looked at him questioningly.

Finally, O'Neill spoke up. "I don't believe it!" he blurted out.

"What is it, sir?" Carter asked.

"Take a look!" he said as he handed the binoculars to Carter and pointed in the direction for her to gaze.

"Oh my _God!" _Sam Carter exclaimed. "They're PONIES!"

"What!?" Dr. Jackson exclaimed.

"I'm _serious, _Daniel! See for yourself…" Carter said as she handed the binoculars to him.

They were, in fact, looking at sentient ponies! They saw ponies of all shades of colour driving cars and vans up and down the streets of the village at the base of the mountain, plus several more stallions, mares, colts and fillies walking up and down the sidewalks of the streets. They were stunned at what they saw!

"These ponies _can't_ be from Earth!"Samantha Carter said. "Otherwise, they wouldn't possess _human intelligence!" _

"Well, of _course _they're intelligent! If they _weren't, _they wouldn't be driving _Chevys, _would they!?" Col. O'Neill asked sarcastically.

"But if these ponies came from _Earth, _they must've evolved fairly quickly to possess the intelligence that matches our own." Dr. Jackson said. "Now, the only thing I can think of that would cause something like this is if there was… _outside interference…"_

"Teal'c, have you ever heard of such a thing among the Goa'uld?" Samantha Carter asked the big Jaffa.

"Indeed not." Teal'c said evenly. "However, there is a legend among the Jaffa that speaks of Ra conducting experiments on equines of Earth in order to increase their intelligence. The goal was allegedly to create an Army of resilient soldiers after it was discovered that Earth equines were capable of travelling long distances with ease."

"So if Ra captured a bunch of horses from Earth, and brought them _here _to conduct his intelligence enhancing experiments, then these ponies must be their _descendants." _Dr. Jackson said.

"That would explain what we've just seen." Carter said. "But at some point, the experiment must've _failed; _because the Goa'uld have long since abandoned this planet."

Teal'c nodded. "It was said that the project was abandoned because the estimated cost of maintaining such an army would be too _impractical. _But until now, this story was believed to be nothing more than an old _wives' tale_ among Jaffa."

"SO, with the Goa'uld gone, these smart horses were free to roam around, and their descendants became fruitful and multiplied!" Col. O'Neill said with finality.

"I'd say that's a safe bet!" Dr. Jackson smiled.

Teal'c then suddenly turned his head to his right. "Someone approaches!" he said as he raised his staff weapon.

The entire SG-1 Team then became silent as Col. O'Neill motioned for them to hide from whoever, or whatever, was headed their way.

* * *

The SG-1 Team heard the pleasant sounds of laughter and chatter as they scrambled to hide behind whatever forest brush they could find. By the voices they heard, they were definitely _female. _Then they saw them! They were following a path through the woods, and they were seven in all. They were pony mares of all colours. Some of their colour shades were quite _unimaginable, _and they looked to be quite young. _Teenaged fillies, _Carter thought to herself.

"I don't know, Bright Eyes!" the yellow coloured pony with purple mane and tail was heard to say. "I think you picked the wrong day to have a picnic. The sun's not even shining!"

"The Weather Bureau said that it was supposed to clear up this afternoon…" the one known as Bright Eyes replied. She was a light blue coloured pony with deep orange mane and tail.

"Since when has the Weather Bureau been able to accurately predict the weather?" the pink pony with blue hair and tail asked jokingly.

All of the ponies giggled.

"Well, if it gets too bad, we can always turn back." The white pony with pink mane and tail with finality.

The SG-1 team noticed that they _were _equipped for a picnic. One carried a basket, another carried a large blanket, while another carried a bag full of things they could play with afterwards, like balls and Frisbees; and perhaps a book or two to read. They also noticed something peculiar: They all had some sort of tattoo on their flanks! The yellow pony had what looked like a candy in a wrapper, the pink coloured one had a microphone with stars and a musical note layered all around it, the white one had a pink coloured heart with three smaller light red hearts on top of it, while the beige coloured pony with dark pink mane and tail had a multi coloured patch like you'd find sewed on a piece of garment to hide a hole that was in it. _Most unusual! _Col. O'Neill thought to himself. They couldn't make out what the tattoos were on the other ponies, as they were walking on the other side of their friends.

"The path we're taking to the clearing is gonna bring us pretty close to the Ring Of Fire." The light purple pony with light pink mane and tail said with a hint of fear in her voice. "That thing _scares _me!"

Col. O'Neill and Captain Carter shared a look between them that said "This must be what they call the _Stargate!" _

"Especially since no one's been able to figure out what it _is."_ The white pony said, echoing the purple one's sentiment.

"Oh, come _on, _you two!" the pony with the patch tattoo said in frustration. "It's just a dumb ol' steel circle stuck atop a flight of steps!"

"Yeah. It's been there for a long time, too! As long as anybody can _remember." _The pink pony with golden blonde mane and tail said. "But it's nothing _dangerous. _It's not gonna _hurt _us!"

"T-then how do you explain that 'white fire' we've been seeing at night?" the purple pony asked.

"The 'white fire' that's been happening more and more frequently as of late…" the white pony said.

"Ball lightning!" "Patch" said smugly.

"On a CLEAR night, Patch!?" the purple pony asked angrily.

"All right, girls, that's _enough!" _the pink pony exclaimed. "I don't want any more SCARY talk about the Ring Of Fire to ruin this day!" she said with finality.

The two frightened ponies said nothing more after that.

By now, the seven teenaged fillies were nearing SG-1's position. Daniel Jackson shifted a bit in order to get a better look at the passing ponies when he heard something SNAP behind him. He had inadvertently stepped on a twig. Col. O'Neill gave him a wide eyed look.

"Oops!" Dr. Jackson said with an apologetic smile.

Col. O'Neill just rolled his eyes. He had hoped that the fillies hadn't heard the noise. That hope was shattered, however, when he heard one of them speak up.

"_Girls! _Did you hear that!?" one of them said.

"No." another one said.

"I did!" another said admitted. "It came from over _there."_

The group stopped dead in their tracks right in front of SG-1's hiding place.

"Who's there!?" the leader of the group called out.

"It's probably just some animal…" the white pony suggested.

"Better be sure." The leader said. "Who is it!?" she called out again.

"Teddy, is THAT you!?" the one they call Patch shouted. "Come on out and SHOW YOURSELF!"

Dr. Jackson then did something totally unexpected. He slowly stood up to reveal his position.

"_Daniel!" _Col. O'Neill whispered to him harshly.

"LOOK!" Patch exclaimed as she pointed. Her friends gasped at what they saw.

Daniel Jackson just stood there, in plain sight, with his hands above his head as a sign of non aggression, in front of the stunned female ponies. "Uhh… hi?" he said with his best smile as he waved his fingers at them.

All seven ponies screamed in unison, dropped everything they carried onto the path and ran back the way they came.

All the SG-1 Team could do was watch the ponies leave as they hoofed it back down the mountain. "_Great, _Daniel! You just started a _stampede!"_ Col. O'Neill said in derision.

Dr. Jackson just smiled and shrugged apologetically.

Col. O'Neill sighed. "All right! Let's head back to the SGC and report this, then figure out what to do next. Move out!" He ordered.

SG-1 then headed back to the Stargate where they would use the DHD to dial back home to Earth and the SGC.

* * *

"_Sentient ponies, _you say!?" General Hammond asked in disbelief.

All of the members of SG-1 were sitting around the large conference table in the Briefing Room of the SGC making their report about what they encountered on P3X-2G2.

"That's right, sir." Captain Carter said. "These ponies possess a level of intelligence that's similar to our own. They even live in _houses _and drive _cars!"_

"They looked to be _Chevys..."_ Col. O'Neill added.

"They speak _English, _even!" Captain Carter said.

"Yeah… I heard English…" Col. O'Neill added.

General Hammond couldn't help but chuckle at this. "Well, Captain Carter, you've gotta admit that all this seems pretty _farfetched." _

"I _know _it sounds pretty unbelievable, but it's _what we_ _saw_, General!" Captain Carter said.

General Hammond nodded. "And you say they're not as _advanced _as we are?"

"Yes, sir!" Captain Carter nodded. "I'd say they're at the equivalent of late 80s to early 90s for us."

"So… _what? _They still have VCRs, vinyl LPs, big clunky cell phones, and their version of _Michael Jackson_?"Col O'Neill asked sarcastically.

"Probably…" Captain Carter smiled.

"Dr. Jackson!" General Hammond said as he turned his attention to SGC's resident Archaeologist. "I have to admit that your theory as to how these… sentient ponies… got there seems hard to believe _as well!"_

"Yes, sir, though most of it is based on what Teal'c told us…" Dr. Jackson said, glancing towards the big Jaffa, who stayed silent.

"So what you're saying is that… Ra kidnapped a bunch of ponies from ancient Egypt, brought them to P3X-2G2, and conducted mind enhancing experiments on them in an effort to try and create some sort of _super soldier?"_ General Hammond said in disbelief.

"Yyyyyeah, that's what everything points to…" Dr. Jackson smiled nervously.

"But until now, it's been nothing more than a _wives' tale…_Teal'c's own words._" _Col. O'Neill said.

"I've noticed a cave not far from the Stargate. I'd like to go back and explore it to see if I can find the remnants of a Goa'uld laboratory…"

"But what about those female ponies you scared off?" General Hammond asked.

"All I can say is: I've never seen a group of ponies run so fast!" Col. O'Neill said in answer.

After a few moments, General Hammond nodded. "All right! As of 0800 tomorrow, I want you all to return to P3X-2G2. You are to _make contact _with those… sentient ponies… try to find out what they know about the Stargate that's there, and see if you can gain permission to explore that nearby cave. Dismissed!" he ordered.

With this, SG-1 disbanded and headed to their quarters for the night.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the town of Ponyville not far from Fire Mountain, the seven female pony friends were running down the sidewalk of the town's main street on their way to the local police station. Several pedestrians had to actually dodge out of the way, lest they be bowled over by them! They were in an awful big hurry to get to the local Police Precinct to report what they've seen!

When they arrived, they didn't bother stopping at the front desk, and headed straight for the Assistant Deputy's office. They barged into his office and frantically started talking at a mile a minute about what they've encountered on Fire Mountain. The Assistant Deputy, a young olive green male pony with white mane and tail, was having difficulty making out what they were saying, as they were all talking quickly and at the same time. He noticed that they were visibly frightened!

"Girls, girls, GIRLS!" he cried out, waving his forehooves in the air from behind his desk. This quieted them down. "Now, one at a time, what's going on?"

All seven of them started talking frantically again. Exasperated, the Assistant Deputy slammed his forehooves down on his desk. "All right, ALL RIGHT!" he cried out. "YOU!" he pointed to Patch. "Tell me what happened."

"U-u-u-up there! On Fire Mountain! MONSTER!" She said as she pointed with a shaky forehoof in the direction of the mountain in question.

"Monster? On Fire Mountain!?" the Assistant Deputy asked.

"Yes!" the yellow coloured pony named Bon Bon said. "We all _saw _it!"

The rest of the girls frantically nodded.

"Hold on!" the Assistant Deputy said, raising a forehoof. Then he picked up the phone that was on his desk and dialed a number. "Sheriff Harding? This is Deputy Foster. Sorry to bother you, but I've got these seven teenaged fillies here in my office right now, and they're saying they all saw some sort of… _monster_… on Fire Mountain…"

"Wait! Did you say _monster?" _Sheriff Harding could be heard saying from the other end.

"That's what they're telling me!" Deputy Foster said in reply. "They're pretty frantic! Obviously, whatever they saw scared them pretty _badly. _What should I do?"

"Keep them there! I'm on my way." Sheriff Harding said.

"Yes, sir!" Deputy Foster said as he hung up the phone. "Sheriff's on his way."

The seven pony friends all breathed a huge sigh of relief. While waiting for the Sheriff to arrive, Deputy Foster invited them to the lobby for some water, which the seven fillies all graciously accepted.

* * *

When Sheriff Harding arrived, he brought the girls and Deputy Foster into his office so he can get to the bottom of the mystery. He was a middle aged, light brown coloured pony with beige coloured mane and tail, and was slightly overweight, but he was still in relatively good shape to continue service as Sheriff of Ponyville.

"_Now, _Patch!" Sheriff Harding began. "Since you say you got a good look at this monster, can you describe him to me?" He asked as he grabbed a sketchpad and pencil. He wasn't much of an artist, but he has done enough composite sketches over the years to make them pretty half decent.

When he was done, he showed his sketch to the girls. "Is this it?" he asked them. What he showed them was a fierce looking being that walked on two legs with mean eyes, a wicked smile, and sharp pointy teeth.

Patch nodded. "Yep! That's what I saw!"

"What about the rest of you?"

The rest of the girls all said that it was _exactly _what they saw on the mountain that afternoon.

"Kind of looks like those old creatures of legend, doesn't it?" Deputy Foster commented.

"Hmmm… You're _right!" _Sheriff Harding said as he nodded. "There's no point in going out to search for this creature _now. _It'll be dark soon, and Fire Mountain is _far too dangerous _at night!"

"But the monster could be _long gone _by tomorrow!" the one they called Bright Eyes said.

"But if that creature lives on Fire Mountain, it won't go far." Sheriff Harding said. "We'll go out and search for it tomorrow morning; and _Patch, _since you're the one who was able to give me the most details about the creature, you'll be accompanying us to help in the search."

"It's a good thing it's the weekend!" Patch said. "I don't wanna miss school _and _soccer practice."

"Heh heh heh! I'm sure you don't!" Sheriff Harding chuckled. "All right. Go home and try to sleep easy tonight, all of you. Be here for 9 AM sharp tomorrow, Patch."

"Will do, Sheriff!" Patch said happily as they all filed out of the Police Precinct and made their way to their own separate homes for the night.


	3. Chapter 3 - First Contact

**CHAPTER 3**

**FIRST CONTACT**

The Stargate on P3X-2G2 WHOOSHed as the wormhole vortex was established. Moments later, the four members of the SG-1 Team emerged. Moments after that, the Stargate wormhole WHOOSHed close. Contrary to yesterday, there was hardly a cloud in the sky, and the sky itself showed that familiar blue hue. This was to be expected, for P3X-2G2 had an atmosphere fairly similar to Earth; and the sun the planet orbited was a yellow dwarf, much like in the Solar System. They looked up in the sky, but could not see a moon. Earth's moon could be seen, even in broad daylight. They presumed this planet had none; or at least, whatever moons it had didn't appear to be visible.

"_Jackson, _go check out the M.A.L.P." O'Neill ordered.

Dr. Jackson immediately sprinted to the nearby cave. Just before they left yesterday, they moved the M.A.L.P. into a cave not far from the Stargate to prevent anyone from discovering it, the very same cave that Dr. Jackson wanted to explore to see if he could find any evidence that the Goa'uld once had a base on the planet.

Much to their surprise, they had discovered that planet P3X-2G2 was inhabited by a sentient civilization; but not just _any _civilization, it was civilization made up almost exclusively of _talking ponies. _General Hammond ordered them to make contact with the local leaders, and find out what they know about the Stargate that was on their world; and that was why they came back.

"M.A.L.P.'s secure!" Jackson said as he came sprinting back.

"All right. Let's see if we can go chat with the locals, shall we? Let's move out!" O'Neill said as he pointed forward. They all started walking down the mountain towards the nearby town they saw yesterday.

"If they're anything like us, there may actually be search parties out right now trying to locate us." Samantha Carter said.

"Then we'll meet 'em half way." O'Neill said simply.

* * *

Meanwhile, on a lower point of the mountain, a group of ponies was headed up the trail that lead to the top. This was Sheriff Bright Mane Harding and his Chief Deputy Sharp Eye Foster. They were accompanied by another pony Deputy. This one was bright yellow with orange coloured mane and tail. The fourth member of the group was Patch, the teenaged filly who reported the sighting of the "monster" yesterday. They were trying to find the "monster" again, and possibly capture it.

They arrived at the spot in the trail where Patch and her friends encountered the strange creature yesterday. "You say this was where you saw that monster yesterday, Patch?" Sheriff Harding asked.

"Uh huh." Patch nodded, visibly frightened.

"Well, there's nothing here _now." _Sheriff Harding stated. "Let's see if we can find something a little bit further up." He pointed up the trail, and the group of ponies continued to climb the mountain, their hooffalls echoing on the trail.

* * *

SG-1 was headed down the trail they found yesterday, the _same _trail where they encountered the group of filly ponies, and scared them off. Col. O'Neill suddenly called a halt to his group, for he thought he heard the sound of talking up the trail. Voices coming in from the wind confirmed his suspicions. He motioned for his group to hide in some nearby bushes.

The group of ponies didn't even see them as they cantered on past.

"So what if it's true?" one of the ponies was heard to say. This was Deputy Foster. "What if that creature is one of the servants of the Great God, as the legends say?"

"Until I see this creature for myself, I'll continue to say that it's just that, a _legend." _Sheriff Harding said.

"But I know what I saw, Sheriff!" Patch exclaimed. "You have to believe me! I'm not _crazy, _and I wasn't _seeing things_, either! We _all _saw it, me and my friends!"

Sheriff Harding sighed. "I _wanna_ believe you, Patch, but no one's ever reported anything like this for as long as I was alive. Until we capture this thing, there will _always _be some doubt to your story."

From his hiding place, Col. O'Neill motioned to his group to stay where they were. As the group of ponies walked past, he quietly emerged from his hiding place.

"Besides, if this creature's a servant of the Great God, what's it doing here _now, _after being gone of almost two thousand years?" Sheriff Harding asked.

"Hi, guys!" Col. O'Neill exclaimed from behind them.

This made all of them suddenly turn and draw their pistols. Upon seeing this, Col. O'Neill immediately put his hands up as a sign of non aggression.

"DROP YOUR WEAPON!" Deputy Foster screamed.

"Hey, hey, HEY!" Col. O'Neill cried out. "Relax, fellas! I'm not here to hurt anybody…"

"DO IT NOW!" Deputy Foster exclaimed.

"OKAY… okay… Whatever you say…" Col. O'Neill said as he slowly put the P-90 he was carrying down to the ground.

O'Neill wondered how these ponies were able to grip handguns in their forehooves, like they were now doing. Then he noticed that their forehooves seemed to bend in a sort of half moon shape, like a human hand; which allowed them to grip the handguns. He'd have to remember to ask Captain Carter how this was possible later, given what he knows about pony anatomy.

"Is this the creature, Patch?" Sheriff Harding asked, hiding his surprise.

"N-no! It's a different one!" Patch replied, visibly shaking in fear.

"It _talks, _Sheriff!" the yellow coloured pony exclaimed.

"Of _course _I can talk! I'm a smart guy, like… _you… _apparently…" Col. O'Neill said

"SHUT UP!" Deputy Foster exclaimed.

Col. O'Neill simply glared at him.

"The one we saw yesterday talked as well. It said 'hi' to us…" Patch said.

Sheriff Harding gave her a look.

"Guess I forgot to mention that…" She laughed nervously, placing a hoof over her mouth.

Sheriff Harding sighed, then turned his attention back towards Col. O'Neill. "Are there others like you?" he asked.

O'Neill nodded. "Yes."

"How many?"

"We're _four _in all."

"Where are they?"

"Right here." He turned to look over his shoulder. "You can come out now!" he said.

Carter, Jackson and Teal'c all emerged from their hiding place. The pony police officers tensed up a little more.

"Drop your weapons, ALL of you!" Deputy Foster ordered.

"Better do as he says…" Col. O'Neill ordered. "This guy seems a bit _Gung Ho _to me…"

"YOU, BE QUIET!" Foster exclaimed to O'Neill, who simply rolled his eyes.

As soon as all of SG-1 laid down their weapons, the two Deputees moved in to secure them. They even took their utility knives and handguns! The yellow coloured pony tried to take Teal'c's staff weapon, but the big Jaffa refused to relinquish it. A look from Col. O'Neill told him to give it up. Teal'c finally allowed the now angry frowning yellow pony to take the weapon.

Patch suddenly gasped and pointed at Dr. Jackson. "That's it! That's the _thing _we saw!"

"Okay…" O'Neill began. "For the record, we are _not _things! We're _humans! Human beings _of flesh and blood like… _you… _apparently…"

"I said 'SHUT UP'!" Foster exclaimed.

"_Foster!" _Sheriff Harding cried out. "You must forgive my Deputy. He's a 'by the book' kind of pony…"

"Yeah… We noticed that…" Col. O'Neill said with a roll of his eyes.

"Since you… _hyoo mahns… _can talk, do you have names?" Sheriff Harding asked.

"Yes. I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill, that's Captain Samantha Carter, that's Dr. Daniel Jackson, and that's Teal'c…"

"All right. I'm Sheriff Bright Mane Harding, that's Chief Deputy Sharp Eye Foster, Assistant Chief Deputy Sun Ray Jones, and this is-"

"_Patch, _we know! We met her yesterday; or at least, Dr. Jackson did…"

Everyone stayed silent for a few moments. Col O'Neill spoke again. "Uhh… can we put our hands down now!? I don't know about my friends, but I know _mine _are getting tired…"

Sheriff Harding holstered his gun. "Of course, since you're obviously not threatening…"

The other Deputees followed the Sheriff's lead and holstered their own handguns while the SG-1 team lowered their hands.

"_Well," _Col. O'Neill began again. "now that we've been formerly introduced, and to borrow from an old cliché: Take us to your leader…"

"To start off," Sheriff Harding said. "we're gonna _take _you down to The Station for some _questioning…"_

O'Neill nodded. "Fair enough. Lead the way…"

"Back down the trail. _Move!" _Sheriff Harding pointed.

SG-1 turned to start heading down the trail that led to the nearby village. The three Police ponies moved to surround SG-1, one on each side with Sheriff Harding at the rear. Patch stayed close to Sheriff Harding at all times.

* * *

As SG-1, the Police ponies and Patch were walking down sidewalk of Ponyville, they got a lot of strange looks! SG-1's already gotten a few strange looks from the inhabitants of a lot of worlds they've previously visited; but these were, by far, the _strangest _they've ever gotten! It was obvious to SG-1 that these ponies have never seen a human before. Some ponies gasped in fear at the sight of them, others just stared curiously, while others just smiled and laughed thinking that they were actually ponies in some weird costumes that have caused trouble, hence the Police escort.

They were led inside the Ponyville Police Precinct where they got even more strange looks from the Officers on duty inside. "In here." Sheriff Harding said as he gestured towards a medium sized Questioning Room. The SG-1 members, the Deputees, and Patch all filed inside.

"Sheriff!" the Officer at the front desk called just as he was about to enter the Questioning Room. "There's a crowd gathering outside!"

Through the bay window outside of the Precinct, a curious group of onlookers were peering inside, trying to catch a glimpse of the strange creatures that were just brought in.

"Keep them out!" Sheriff Harding ordered. "The last thing I want is to start a panic…"

The Officer nodded. "Yes, Sheriff."

With this, Sheriff Harding stepped into the Questioning Room and closed the door behind him. "Please sit down." He motioned. All of SG-1 grabbed a chair and sat. It was more difficult for Teal'c, for none of the chairs in the room were made for a Jaffa his size. Still, he managed to squeeze himself into one.

"_Well" _Sheriff Harding began. "First off, I want to assure all of you that you're _not _under arrest. We simply have a lot of questions we'd like to ask you…"

"Yeah, we guessed that!" O'Neill said. "But can you make it short and sweet, 'cause I've got an appointment with my Manicurist at 11 o'clock." He glanced at his watch.

The ponies gave him a strange look.

"That's a _joke…" _O'Neill said.

Only Sheriff Harding bothered to crack a smile. "Well, the first obvious question should be: How long have you all been on Fire Mountain?"

Dr. Jackson was the one who answered. "We're not actually _from _here…"

"You're _not!?" _Sheriff Harding questioned.

"No." Captain Carter said. "This may be hard to believe at first, but I swear it's the truth: We're _not_ from this world! We come from a planet called _Earth _light years away. We came to this world through the _Stargate."_

"Star Gate?" Sheriff Harding asked.

"Yeah! That big round thing that's made of metal on top of the mountain?" Col. O'Neill said.

"Oh, _that!" _Deputy Foster said. "We call it the Ring Of Fire." He smiled.

"So called because it's believed to be cause of the 'White Fire' we sometimes see on Fire Mountain at night…" Deputy Jones said.

"And it's been happening more and more frequently as of late!" Patch admitted.

All of the members of SG-1 got worried looks. "It could be just random dialings…" Dr. Jackson suggested.

"What, like, somebody dialing the wrong phone number, or something?" O'Neill asked.

"Yeah." Dr. Jackson replied. "_Or…"_

"Or _what?" _Samantha Carter asked.

"Somebody's _testing _the 'Gate, to make sure it still works. Someone like…" Jackson cut his sentence short.

Sheriff Harding cleared his throat. "The truth is: None of us have been able to figure out exactly what the Ring Of Fire is, not even our best Scientists. A lot of us believe, however, that it was a long forgotten shrine built by the Great God so his servants- who are believed to look a lot like _you four_- could worship Him."

"Great God!?" Col. O'Neill exclaimed.

"Yes!" Patch said. "He who it's said made us who we are today!"

"Care to _elaborate!?" _Col. O'Neill pressed.

"Well, I don't know how it is where _you _come from," Sheriff Harding began. "but by _our _calendar, this is the year 1992 from the Time of Awareness."

"Time of Awareness?" Carter asked.

"Yes." Sheriff Harding said. "According to what we believe, this was the time the Great God gave us the ability to _think _and _reason_. Unlike our primitive ancestors; which many believe were initially brought to this planet by the Great God Himself."

"And this planet is called… _what _exactly?" Dr. Jackson asked.

Patch looked stunned. "Equus!" she shrugged. "Everyone knows _that!"_

"Yeah, but we're not _from _with world, _remember!?" _O'Neill stated.

"_Equus… _The Latin word for 'horse'. _That _figures!" Jackson said with a roll of his eyes.

"So what did this _Great God _look like?" O'Neill asked.

"No one knows…" Deputy Foster shrugged. "None of our ancestors was able to actually see him, and none of our historical documents contain any physical descriptions of Him. My father's a Historian, so I know that for a _fact."_

"Which is why some of us call Him the 'Great Unseen One'." Sheriff Harding said.

"His _servants, _though" Foster continued. "Were believed to look a lot like _you, _especially _him." _Foster pointed to Teal'c, who raised his eyebrows.

"Some of them even had that gold… _forehead _thing… like _he_ has." Deputy Foster continued. "I'm sorry, what was your name again?"

"Teal'c!" the big Jaffa said.

Jackson turned to O'Neill and mouthed the name "Ra!" to him.

All stayed silent for a few moments. Before anybody else could say anything, O'Neill spoke. "Well, what we're about to tell you will probably turn everything that you believe in on its head. That… _being _you call The Great God is NOT a God at all! He belongs to a race of aliens called the _Goa'uld, _and their soul purpose is to _conquer _this entire galaxy, and _enslave _every inhabitant who happen to _live _in it, including YOU!"

The ponies all stood in stunned silence.

"I know it's a lot for _all _of you to take in at once, but it's the _truth!" _Carter said.

"That _Goa'uld _who brought your ancestors here two thousand years ago was called _Ra!" _O'Neill continued._ "_We encountered him on a planet called _Abydos_ almost four years ago; and believe me when I say that he was PURE EVIL without _one ounce _of BENEVOLENCE in him! In the end, we had to KILL him, because he was gonna DESTROY Abydos and our home planet EARTH!

"Now, we can stop his friends from ever TAKING OVER this planet, if you'll let us!" O'Neill concluded.

"That's _right!" _Jackson said. "In fact, one of his so called _friends_, a Goa'uld named _Apophis, _captured and enslaved my _wife!" _

"That's TERRIBLE!" Patch exclaimed sadly.

O'Neill nodded. "It IS! But we're _determined _to stop Apophis from _ever _doing what Ra tried to do!"

"I _know _this is all a bit _overwhelming _for all of you, and may take some time to sink in; but you MUST believe us and TRUST us! We would not LIE to you!" Carter said.

None of the ponies said anything for a good solid 30 seconds. Sheriff Harding finally glanced at his compatriots and sighed. "What you've all said can surely be discussed _later…"_

"Oh for _crying out loud!" _Col. O'Neill scoffed.

"LISTEN!" Sheriff Harding said forcefully. "It's not that we don't _disbelieve _you, but it's like your friend Carter said: It _will _take some time to digest! _Besides, _we've gone severely OFF TOPIC here! We still have a LOT of questions we wanna ask you, and _we want straight answers!"_

Col. O'Neill sighed heavily as he slumped down in his chair. "All right. FIRE AWAY!"

Sheriff Harding smiled and nodded. _"Good! _Now, I want you tell us what you know about the… Star Gate, as you call it…"

"And tell us about where you came from! _Erth, _is what you called it? What's it like!?" Patch asked.

The Police ponies looked at Patch.

"I'm _curious!" _Patch shrugged.

Sheriff Harding turned back to face the members the SG-1. He smiled and shrugged as if to say "indulge her!"

For the next two hours, the ponies grilled the entire SG-1 team about the Stargate, Earth, the Goa'uld and their intentions; and when it was learned that Teal'c was a Jaffa who came from Chulak, they grilled him about his home world and what the Jaffa were like. When it was later learned that Teal'c used to be First Prime of Apophis, they grilled him about the strength of his Jaffa Army, and why he defected. Teal'c answered all of their questions calmly.

After awhile, the entire SG-1 team became visibly annoyed and tired at the constant questioning. _I HATE police interrogations! _Col. O'Neill decided.

Sheriff Harding put down some final notes on a scratch pad, then looked up at the SG-1 Team. "Well, that should about cover it. I thank you all!"

The entire SG-1 team breathed an internal sigh of relief.

"I should tell you that we've captured _everything _you've all said on tape so we can review it later, in case we've missed anything." Sheriff Harding announced.

"Yeah. We figured you've been filming us the whole time. Hi, mom!" Col. O'Neill jokingly waved at the security camera in the upper right hand corner of the room. Sheriff Harding cracked another smile while Patch stifled a laugh.

"_Now, _until we decide what to do with you, we're gonna have to ask that you _stay here_." Sheriff Harding continued. "Since you're not under arrest, we can't put you in our uncomfortable jail cells, can we?"

"_No, _that wouldn't be very nice, would it?" Col. O'Neill joked.

Sheriff Harding smiled. "I figured as much. Which is why we're gonna put you up in a hotel just outside of town. _Foster, _go arrange transport for our guests." He told his Deputy.

"Yes, sir." Replied Deputy Foster as he got up from his chair and walked out of the room.

"You know, that won't be necessary. We can always send for whatever we need to set up camp on Fire Mountain." Col. O'Neill said.

"But I _insist!" _Sheriff Harding said.

Col. O'Neill sighed. "Fine!" he said with a wave of his hand.

"I'll contact the Mayor and The Town Council and ask them if they want to meet with you. You've certainly given us _a lot _of information here today. We'll, no doubt, want to hear more later." Sheriff Harding said.

"Right!" Col. O'Neill said. "You go do what you have to do. In the meantime, I'm about due to report back to my superiors." He glanced at his watch. "So, with your permission-"

"Out of the question!" Sheriff Harding said. "Until I hear back from the Mayor and his Council, I'm afraid you are to remain _confined _to the limits of Ponyville."

Col. O'Neill slumped in his chair.

"More so for your own _protection. _As you've no doubt noticed, you've attracted a crowd. There may be a few lunatics out there who'd want to do you more _harm _than _good._ You'll be under 24 hour surveillance once we've gotten you safely to your hotel rooms.

Sheriff Harding got up from his chair. "In the meantime, why don't we offer you some refreshments while we wait for transportation to get here. Coffee? Water?"

"A glass of water would be nice. Throat's getting a little _dry." _Col. O'Neill said as he rubbed his neck.

Sheriff Harding smiled. "Follow me."

Everybody got up to leave the interrogation room.

"I'll bet you were the _class clown _back in school, right?" Patch asked O'Neill.

"Maybe…" O'Neill answered.

"I _love _a good practical joke or two!" Patch admitted.

"I draw the line at practical jokes. Got me in trouble too much…" Col. O'Neill admitted.

Minutes later, after the much needed refreshments, SG-1 was led towards the Police Precinct's exit where they were met by Deputy Foster.

"Police van's here, sir." Foster told Harding.

"Good." Harding said.

"A _paddy wagon!?" _O'Neill exclaimed when he saw the van that was parked outside.

"What, you were expecting a _stretch limo?" _Foster asked.

"_Yeah, _actually." O'Neill said.

Foster smiled and chuckled. "I should let you know, Sheriff, The Press is having a _field day _out there. It's one big _circus!"_

Harding shook his head. _"Great, _just what we need! All right, let's form a perimeter!" Harding ordered. He and four other Police Officers surrounded SG-1.

"Patch!" Harding said as he turned his attention to the teenaged filly. "You've done a wonderful service for us today. I'll definitely put you up for a medal! Now I want you to go home; but _please, _don't tell your family or any of your friends what you've seen and heard here today… _just yet."_

Patch nodded. "All right, Sheriff."

"Is everybody ready?" Harding asked as he turned his attention back to his officers.

All four Officers replied "Yes!"

"All right, let's _move out!" _Harding ordered, and the entire group filed out the door.

They were instantly met with flashing camera bulbs and reporters trying to get into their faces with microphones, hoping to catch a few words or a phrase from the "creatures" that were brought into the Precinct. "All right, _move along! _Nothing to see here! _Stay back!_" Deputy Foster called out as he held the crowd back.

To Col. O'Neill's left, he saw a group of ponies dressed in white togas with wreaths of multi coloured flowers around their heads and carrying tambourines. "_Look, _brothers and sisters! The servants of The Great One have _returned! _The prophecy is about to come _true!" _their leader exclaimed. Then they all started chanting and shaking their tambourines. Col. O'Neill was quite stunned to see this.

He felt a pat on his right shoulder. It was Sheriff Harding. "Religious fanatics! Pay no attention to them!"

Cameras still kept taking pictures, and reporters kept trying to cram their microphones in the hopes of catching a few words from the _"_strange creatures" as they were escorted into the police van. It quickly sped off once the rear doors were closed. Its destination was the hotel outside of town where SG-1 is to be put up for the night.

* * *

Later that night, when Patch got home, she just couldn't keep quiet about the events of the day! Over dinner, she opened up to her family about the events of the day, and what the _hyoo mahns _had to say. Her family admitted that it was a fascinating story, but had difficulty wrapping their heads around certain things the _hyoo mahns _said.

After dinner, she was on the phone calling up her friends and telling them the exact same story. They all admitted that they were quite amazed by what happened to her that day, and what she heard these _hyoo mahns _say. They were eager to learn more! Patch promised them that she would try to talk to them again to see what else they knew.


	4. Chapter 4 - Meeting The Mayor

**CHAPTER 4**

**MEETING THE MAYOR**

At the Prancing Pony Inn just outside of Ponyville, Col. O'Neill was slowly coming to life. He looked over at the digital clock on the nightstand next to the bed. It read 8 A.M.. He had slept unusually good, for being in a strange location in a bed that he wasn't used to. The bed was most comfortable for his tastes. Of course, O'Neill could sleep on a rock slab with no blankets or pillows, if he had to.

He got dressed in his military fatigues, went to the door that lead to the outside, unlocked it and slowly opened it. He was immediately met by a dark brown coloured pony with beige mane and tail with a serious look about him.

"Good morning!" he said in a rather cheerful voice. "What's a guy gotta do to get breakfast around here?" he asked the officer.

The officer looked him over. "Wait a few minutes." He said, then left.

_Humpf. Mr. GRUMPY! _Col. O'Neill thought as he closed the door.

He knew that he couldn't venture outside without a police escort. He was reminded of this by Sheriff Harding yesterday just before he and the rest of SG-1 were dropped off at the hotel where they were to spend the night. "It's for your own protection." Sheriff Harding reminded him.

"Do I have to ask permission to take a _pee!?"_ Col. O'Neill asked sarcastically.

Sheriff Harding flashed his usual smile before wishing he and the rest of SG-1 a good night.

Barely five minutes had gone by when a knock came at the door. "Mr. Grumpy" had come back with a tray carrying what looked to be bran cereal, white toast, a grapefruit, orange juice and coffee. "Thank you." O'Neill said as he took the tray, set it down on the luggage rack next to the door and closed said door. _Can't expect bacon and eggs from a bunch of vegetarian ponies! _He thought to himself as he glanced at the tray.

The breakfast itself wasn't particularly tasty, but he had eaten worse fare before. _At least Mr. Grumpy was gracious enough to give me strawberry jam to go with the toast_, he thought to himself. Strawberry jam was his favourite. It was his late son's favourite, too! They had often shared strawberry toast for breakfast when he was still alive. Every time he had strawberry jam toast, he thought of his son.

As soon as he finished his breakfast, he lay back down on the bed with cup of coffee in hand and grabbed the bulky T.V. remote. _Yeah, DEFINITELY 90s, and made for ponies, _he thought to himself as he glanced at the overly large buttons that were obviously made for pony hooves to handle, and switched on the T.V. on the coffee table across from the bed.

The channel that came on was a local channel showing the morning news, but all the reporters talked about was the "strange bipedal creatures" that were brought to the police station yesterday. He flipped the channel. Same thing. He kept flipping channels, and came across what looked like their version of C.N.N., only the bottom right hand side of the screen showed a logo that said _P._N.N.. _Pony News Network! _O'Neill thought to himself with a chuckle. What was being broadcast was a female news anchor_pony _interviewing a panel of experts about the _hyoo mahns _that appeared in the small town of Ponyville. The questions that were asked were along the lines of: Who were they? Where did they come from? What are they doing here, and what are their intentions? _Even here, the news is sensationalized! _O'Neill thought with disgust.

He then picked up the phone's receiver on the night stand. It was a bulky thing that reminded O'Neill of those old touch tone phones that were around back in the 80s, only more pony sized with a larger receiver and hoof sized buttons. _CLUNK CLUNK CLUNK _went the buttons as he dialed a particular number. _"Carter, _it's Jack." He said into the receiver. "Yeah, I _know _I'm not supposed to call you, but have you checked out what's on T.V. yet?" "Well, I think you _should. _Seems were making headline news!" "Yeah, we're on _every channel." _O'Neill kept flipping until he came across a channel that was showing a music video featuring some pony rock group. "Except _one! _It looks like their version of MTV, only it's called _P_TV", O'Neill said as he squinted to read the logo's lettering on the bottom right hand side. "Three guesses as to what _that _means." He said with a chuckle. "Anyway, it's on channel 53, if you wanna check it out. It seems to be the only channel where were _not _featured!" Then he saw a caption showing the name of rock group. _The Cleveland Hooves,_ O'Neill read. They looked to be playing hard rock stuff.

Then the image cut out to reveal a deep orange coloured female pony with blue eyes and olive green coloured mane. The mane was thick and curly. To O'Neill, it looked almost like an afro.

"We interrupt this broadcast to bring you a PTV exclusive!" she said in a decidedly British sounding accent. "An extraordinary occurrence in the small town of Ponyville yesterday as four creatures of unknown origin were brought into the local police station for questioning. What you're seeing is video footage of the creatures captured by a local bystander, and then sent into us. It clearly shows the four strange creatures being led inside the precinct by the local Sheriff and some of his Deputees."

"I spoke too soon, Carter! Looks like we're making headlines there as well." O'Neill said.

"Thusfar, the local authorities have refused to comment about this unusual event, but we'll keep you posted throughout the day as new developments occur. We'll return you to more fun and music right after _this!" _the female announcer said before they cut to commercials.

A knock came at the door. "Gotta go! Someone's knocking. I'll talk to you later." O'Neill said as he hung up the phone. He then got up to answer the door.

He was expecting to see "Mr. Grumpy"; but instead, a younger looking dark grey male pony with light brown mane and tail greeted him. He was visibly nervous.

"Oh!" the young male said in surprise. "S-sorry to bother you. I just received word from Sheriff Harding. The Mayor and The Town Council have agreed to meet with you this afternoon. They've arranged a special session for this."

"Well, that's _great!" _O'Neill said, delighted with the news.

"We'll come pick you and your friends up at around 1 o'clock this afternoon to bring you to the Town Hall."

"Not that _paddy wagon_ again, I hope…"

The young pony smiled and chuckled. "N-no, sir! We'll see if we can arrange more suitable transportation."

"Wait! Did you just call me _sir!?" _O'Neill asked.

"I… I guess I _did, _sir." The young pony said nervously. "I mean… you _are _a military Colonel where you come from, are you?"

O'Neill nodded. "I _am. _So you have respect for us military types! I _like _that! Ever think about joining the Army? Presuming you _have _an Army on this world?"

"Just the local Militia." The young male admitted. "But I'd much rather be a _cop. _Sheriff Harding's taught me a _lot _since I joined the Force." He smiled.

"Well, that's _good." _O'Neill said. "What's your name, son?"

"Uhh…F-Featherweight… Featherweight Smith?"

"Well, nice to meet you, Featherweight! I'll see you this afternoon, I guess…" O'Neill turned to go back into his hotel room. "Oh! By the way…" He turned back, just remembering something. "I _will _need to get in touch with my superiors. I was due to report back _yesterday, _but Sheriff Harding decided otherwise. They're probably worried _sick _right now. But to contact them, I _will _need to use the Stargate."

Featherweight gave him a questioning look. "I-is that really necessary?"

"Well, let me put it _this _way…" O'Neill began as he leaned against the doorframe. "If I _don't_ report backafter a certain time, my superiors _will _send an SG team through to _look_ for us_, _and they may or may _not _be as friendly as _we _are…" O'Neill raised an eyebrow.

"I-I see…" Featherweight became pensive. "I'll see if I can arrange an escort…"

O'Neill smiled. "_Good! _ OH, and can you promise me no more Harry Krishnas on our way to the Town Hall this afternoon?" He joked, thinking of the ponies in togas wielding tambourines he saw yesterday.

"Huh!?" Featherweight looked confused.

"Never mind!" O'Neill said. "I like ya, kid!" He patted Featherweight on the shoulder. "There should be more like _you _on the Force."

Featherweight smiled. "I'll be right back." He dashed off to arrange the necessary escort to the Stargate on Fire Mountain.

"Thank you!" O'Neill called out to him before going back into his hotel room, satisfied with the negotiations.

* * *

"It's Colonel O'Neill!" Sargeant Harriman announced from his console at the SGC's Control Room. He had been monitoring the incoming transmission from P3X-2G2 that turned out to be Col O'Neill finally establishing radio contact with the SGC to deliver his preliminary report.

General Hammond immediately came to stand next to Sgt. Harriman. "_Colonel, _this is General Hammond. It's good to finally hear your voice again." He said into the radio receiver.

"It's good to hear your voice _too, _sir!" O'Neill said in reply. "Sorry for the delay, but the local authorities wouldn't allow me to report back until _now." _

O'Neill had brought the M.A.L.P. out from the cave in order to establish a clear signal through the Stargate. Harriman's computer monitor showed a grainy image of the forest background behind O'Neill was proof of that. It turns out the D.H.D. was still functional, but it needed a new supply of power crystals. O'Neill took care of that using some spare crystals that were included in the supplies being carried by the M.A.L.P.. They always included some spare power crystals as a precaution.

"Good timing, too!" General Hammond said. "We were about to send out SG-3 to search for you. How are the locals?"

"They're friendly enough, but extremely cautious. They wouldn't let me come back up here without a police escort." O'Neill said as he glanced over his right shoulder. "There's two of 'em here with me now, but they refuse to come on camera. They're a bit shy…"

"What do they know about the Stargate?" Hammond asked.

"Turns out they don't know much about the 'gate, or how it works. My two friends here were quite shocked when the wormhole was opened!" O'Neill answered.

"What about the rest of SG-1?" Hammond asked.

"They're doing just fine, sir!" O'Neill answered. "I'm sure Jackson's gonna take advantage of this Town Hall meeting this afternoon to ask permission to explore the nearby cave. He's hoping to find remnants of that Goa'uld lab he keeps talking about!"

"All right. I'll expect your next report as soon as that meeting you have with the local government is over." Hammond said.

"Roger that! O'Neill out." O'Neill said. Then he pressed the button on the M.A.L.P. to turn off the camera. The image on Harriman's computer screen went black, then the Stargate's wormhole WHOOSHed close behind the IRIS that served as a shield against anything hostile that would come through the wormhole. It was only through a special signal transmitted through the wormhole by the off world SG teams for the IRIS to be opened and allow the teams to come through the wormhole. If they came through the wormhole with the IRIS still closed, they were as good as _dead._

"I'll be in my office, if you need me." General Hammond said as he walked away.

"Yes, sir." Harriman said from his post.

* * *

Sheriff Harding made good on his promise to provide better transportation for the SG-1 team from the hotel to the Town Hall. It was in the form of taxis. _At least it's not that paddy wagon, _O'Neill thought to himself.

When they arrived at The Town Hall, they saw several police officers surrounding the building. _They really went all out in insuring our protection, _O'Neill thought to himself.

"Look at 'em all!" O' Neill commented. "It's like we're foreign dignitaries, or something."

"Well, in a sense, we _are." _Dr. Jackson, sitting next to him, said.

O'Neill glanced at him. "Well, we really don't _need _this much protection." He said.

Two taxis were provided for their transport. O'Neill and Jackson took one while Captain Carter and Teal'c took the other.

Strangely conspicuous by their absence was the media. There were no reporters, no pony carrying video or picture cameras to be seen. _Looks like the Town Council must've kept this meeting pretty hush hush, _O'Neill thought to himself.

When the taxis pulled up to a stop in front of the Town Hall, a police officer was assigned to open each of the taxis' door to let them out. They were then guided inside and led to the main Council Room.

Once inside, though, they noticed that room was _packed. _The flash of picture cameras came from all around them! Even though the meeting must've been kept a secret, word must've gotten out to a select few! Col. O'Neill was sure the meeting will also be caught on video, like all Town Council meetings are.

The sound of tambourines and chanting echoed from the back of the room. _Oh, God! They're here, TOO! _O'Neill thought in frustration. "Those guys are _really _getting on my nerves!" O'Neill whispered to Carter in irritation. Carter could only smile at her Commanding Officer.

"Order! ORDER!" a nearby Bailiff called out, which immediately silenced the noise of the religious fanatics. There was still some mutterings here and there, however, as well as the noise of picture cameras snapping their shots. "Order!" the Bailiff called again, which silenced the remaining noise.

O'Neill looked into the crowd and saw Patch sitting towards the middle. She was sitting with what looked like members of her family. O'Neill also saw her filly friends sitting with their families close by. A lot of them were either shocked or surprised at the sight of the _hyoo mahns _entering the room. "Patch and her friends are here." He whispered to Carter. She glanced to see where they were sitting in the crowd.

The SG-1 team were led to a table large enough for all of them to sit. Even though it was a Town Council Room, it looked more like a Court Room to SG-1. It seemed to be fitting, however, as they were about to be put on "trial" by the Town Council.

"All rise!" the Bailiff called out once everything was in place. Everybody stood from their seats. "This special meeting of the Ponyville Town Council is now in session. His honour the Mayor, and Associate Councilors presiding!"

The Town Council, with the Mayor leading the way, entered the room. He looked to be a middle aged pony with dark grey body. His mane and tail looked to be a mixture of light blue and blond. The six Town Councilors were ponies of varying colours with their bodies, manes and tails; and looked to be of varying ages. They were four males and three females in all.

They moved to a long table facing the room and took their own respective seats. On the wall behind them was what looked to be the town's Coat Of Arms. "You may be seated." The Mayor said in a voice that sounded a bit raspy. It surely denoted his age! Everybody sat down again.

"Well!" The Mayor began. "Let me start off by saying this is the _first ever _such meeting in the entire history of Ponyville. Never before have we had the honour of welcoming such guests as these four… _hyoo mahns… _(I hope I'm pronouncing that correctly)" he said as he gestured towards SG-1. "sitting before us today.

"The way this meeting will work is that you will each speak in turn telling us who you are and what your purpose is. I would like you to stand as you speak, so that all can see you as you talk; and _please, _only speak _one at a time!"_

_Yes, MOTHER! _O'Neill thought to himself with a roll of his eyes.

"_Now, _who wishes to speak first?" The Mayor asked.

O'Neill stood up. "Since I'm the leader of this fine group of HUMANS, I'll go first."

The Mayor smiled. "_Good! _Can you tell us your name and who you represent?"

"I'm Colonel Jack O'Neill of the United States Air Force… representing _Earth!" _

"Nice to meet you, Jack O'Neill! I'm Mayor Thunderhooves Jenkins. I'm currently serving my third consecutive term as Mayor of this fine town."

"Congratulations!" O' Neill said. "I've been a military man for most of my life…"

"I _commend _you!" Mayor Thunderhooves said. "Now, can you tell us how it is you and your friends got to Ponyville?"

Captain Carter stood up. "I can answer that one. We came through the _Stargate."_

"Star Gate?" The Mayor asked with some confusion.

"I believe you call it the _Ring Of Fire_." O'Neill said. "Up on Fire Mountain."

Several mutterings erupted in the crowd. "Order! ORDER!" the Bailiff called out.

Once everything became quiet again, the Mayor continued. "I must say, this is an _extraordinary _revelation!" he said with a chuckle. "Some of our best Scientists have examined the Ring Of Fire for _years, _and have never been able to figure out what it was. In fact, it's greatly believed to be a shrine of worship for the servants of the Great God."

"Yeah, _about _that…" O'Neill began. "That _person _you refer to as The Great God is NOT a God at all!"

Louder mutterings and a few gasps emerged from the attending crowd. The Bailiff tried to call for order again, but the mutterings continued for a few more minutes. When it finally died down, the Mayor spoke again.

"Now that you _mention _it, Colonel O'Neill, our dear Sheriff Harding provided me with the transcript of the questioning he conducted yesterday with you and your friends…" He trailed off as he shuffled through some papers in front of him. "AH, here we go!" he exclaimed as he came across a particular page. "This is what you said during that interview when the subject of our Great God was brought up and I quote: 'That _being _you call The Great God is NOT a God at all! He belongs to a race of aliens called the _Goa'uld, _and their sole purpose is to _conquer _this entire galaxy, and _enslave _every inhabitant who happen to _live _in it.' How very curious!"

More mutterings came from the crowd. The Mayor waited patiently until the noise died down before continuing. "These are your _own words, _Col. O'Neill. Do you realize that what you are saying may be considered borderline _blasphemy _by a lot of my constituents?"

"But it's the TRUTH!" Col. O'Neill exclaimed.

The crowd erupted into gasps and more mutterings. This time, it took several calls to order by the Bailiff before the crown finally quieted down again.

"Let me state for the record that we do not _disbelieve _you, OR your friends, Col. O'Neill;" the Mayor said. "and unlike many of my predecessors, we want to keep an _open mind_ on the subject. We want to know what _you _know. That's all!"

O'Neill relaxed. "Thank you." He nodded and sat back down.

"But let's not get ahead of ourselves." The Mayor said. "Since we already know who _you _are, Col. O'Neill, it's only fair that we know who your _friends_ are as well. Starting with _you, _young lady!" He pointed to Captain Carter. "Please stand and tell us your name and occupation."

She stood up. "Captain Samantha Carter of the United States Air Force. I'm an Astrophysicist."

"Thank you. And you, young male?"

Dr. Jackson stood up. "I'm Dr. Daniel Jackson. Archaeologist and Egyptologist."

"How curious…" Mayor Thunderhooves mused. "Thank you."

Somewhere in the crowd, a young male pony's ears perked up. He was a classmate of Patch's, and was most interested in hearing what Dr. Jackson would have to say.

"And you?" The Mayor asked as he turned his attention to Teal'c.

The big Jaffa stood up. "I am Teal'c. Unlike my friends here, I do not hail from Earth."

More mutterings came from the crowd, softer this time.

"Where _do _you come from?" The Mayor asked.

"From a planet called _Chulak. _I belong to a race known as The _Jaffa."_

The crowd started muttering again.

The Mayor chuckled. "Well, this raises even _more _questions from me." He motioned for Teal'c to sit back down. The big Jaffa did so.

"Now that _that _formality's out of the way" The Mayor began. "We now come to the most important questions we have, and the main focus of this special Council meeting. I would like you all, in turn, to tell us about _Erth_… and these _Goulds… _starting with _you, _Col. O'Neill…"

For the next two hours, each member of the SG-1 team told Mayor Thunderhooves and the Town Councilors what they knew about Earth, the Goa'uld, the Stargate/Ring Of Fire, and other related things. They faced several questions from the Mayor and the Town Councilors about what they knew. When it was Teal'c's turn to speak, they asked him several questions about Chulak, the Jaffa, and his life as a Soldier in the Jaffa Army; but mostly about his time as First Prime of Apophis, and how he came to defect and join SG-1.

Towards the end of the session, when all of the questions were answered, the Mayor spoke again. "Before we conclude this special session, I think I speak for all of my fellow Council members when I say that these fine people here are _not _to be detained or confined in any way any longer. They have not shown any open hostilities towards us, and do not appear to show any hostile intent whatsoever. Therefore, it is the decision of this Council that these… _humans… _and this _Jaffa… _are shown every courtesy and hospitality that this town has to offer."

Mayor Thunderhooves stood up. "_Now,_ if there is nothing else-"

"Actually…" Dr. Jackson interrupted as he stood up.

This brought more mutterings from the crowd.

"Yes, Dr. Jackson?" Mayor Thunderhooves sat back down.

"I would like to ask permission to explore the cave that's next to the Stargate."

"May I ask _why?"_ The Mayor asked.

"Let's just say that I believe I can find something of _importance _there."

"Some of our best Archaeologists have already explored that cave. They've gone over it with a fine toothed comb. Other than some clay pottery and remains belonging to our ancestors, they found _nothing _of relevance… Besides, that cave is under our protectorate; as is the entire area surrounding The Ring Of Fire."

"Nevertheless, I'd like to explore it _myself…" _

Amidst some more mutterings from the crowd, Mayor Thunderhooves nodded pensively. "We will consider your proposal, and get back to you…"

"How soon?" Dr. Jackson asked.

"We'll let you know." Mayor Thunderhooves said. "_Now, _if there is nothing else, this session is adjourned!"

The Mayor and the Councilors all got up to leave. The group of religious ponies started shaking their tambourines and chanting again as SG-1 got up to leave the room as well. Some of the ponies in the crowd, especially reporters, tried to get near the SG-1 team, but the police officers surrounding them prevented anyone from getting too close to them.

It was pretty tight quarters headed down the hallway leading from the Council Room; but once they reached the Town Hall lobby; there was more room to breathe, despite the huge crowd of ponies that were gathered.

"COLONEL O'NEILL! COLONEL O'NEILL!" a mare's voice called from behind them. The SG-1 members saw that the police were holding back a teenaged mare, who was trying to get to them.

"It's all right, boys!" O'Neill told the cops with a wave of his hand once he saw who it was that was trying to get to them. The officers relaxed and allowed the mare to approach SG-1.

"Patch!" O'Neill exclaimed. "I _thought _that was you I saw in the crowd…"

"We just had to come and hear what you and your friends had to say." Patch said.

"I see you've brought the whole class with you as well." O'Neill said, noticing the large group of teenaged ponies that accompanied her.

"This is more than just the whole class" Patch chuckled as she glanced at them. "This is the whole _school. _We go to a one room schoolhouse on the outskirts of Ponyville, and have been since 9th Grade!"

"And I presume you're gonna go to the same school until you graduate?" O'Neill asked.

Patch smiled and nodded. "Yes! Graduation's next year! We can't wait…"

This told O'Neill that Patch and her friends were the equivalent of 16 to 17 years of age, by Earth's standards. Of course, he didn't know if they actually _were _16 to 17, for he didn't know how fast they aged.

"A one room schoolhouse…" O'Neill told Jackson. "That's a little more rare, isn't it?"

"Yeah, but there are still some floating around on Earth…" Jackson said in reply.

"Are there many such schools on this planet?" O'Neill asked.

Patch nodded. "A few…"

"Well, _good!" _O'Neill said.

"Excuse me?" said an older looking mare as she stepped forward. "I am Miss Hackney. I am the Teacher at the one room schoolhouse Patch and her friends go to." She had light purple fur, and her mane and tail were a darker purple colour, almost lavender. She also wore round rimmed glasses. Her "talent mark", as SG-1 came to learn was what they called those tattoos on their flanks, was a small chalkboard with the no. 2 written on it.

"Pleased to meet you, Miss Hackney." Col. O'Neill with a slight bow. "You look to have a fine group of students here."

Miss Hackney giggled. "Yes, they _are _pretty special. Anyway, I was wondering if you and your colleagues would be willing to come to our school and talk to my students about what you do where you come from, as a sort of _career day…"_

Col. O'Neill saw the anticipation in Patch and her friend's eyes. He could see that they wanted him to say _yes. _"Well, that would depend on my superiors; but I think we'd be delighted. Right, gang?"

"Sure!" Capt. Carter said with a smile and a shrug.

"Why not?" Dr. Jackson said. "It's not like I haven't done it _before…"_

"Indeed." Teal'c said simply with a light smile and slight bow.

Patch and her friends seemed to breathe a huge sigh of relief as they muttered pleasantly amongst themselves.

"_Wonderful!" _Miss Hackney exclaimed. "Shall we do this, say, _tomorrow?" _

"Well, that's a bit short notice, but… yeah, I think we can swing by…" O'Neill said.

Miss Hackney smiled. _"Excellent! _Be there at 9 A.M. sharp. Sheriff Harding can provide you with the directions. Don't be late!"

"We won't! Don't you worry…" O'Neill said.

"Ahem." Said an orange coloured mare with peach coloured mane and tail as she approached. She was accompanied by the teenaged mare known as Bon Bon. "Pardon my intrusion, but I'm Angel Food Johnston, Bon Bon's mother…"

"Ma'am…" O'Neill said with a nod to her. He noticed that her talent mark looked to be a piece of vanilla cake with chocolate frosting. He guessed that she must be some kind of baker.

"Since The Mayor said that we are to show you every hospitality this town has to offer, I was wondering if you and your friends would like to come over to our house for dinner tonight…"

"Dinner?" O'Neill asked.

"Yes… It was mostly Bon Bon's idea…" She admitted.

"I was planning to bake cookies for all of us in the process…If it's all right with you…" Bon Bon admitted.

"Well, of _course _it's all right! We _love _cookies!" O'Neill joyfully admitted. "Even big Teal'c here! Right, big guy?"

Teal'c simply nodded, showing his slight smile.

"We hot him hooked on doughnuts." O'Neill whispered to Angel Food. "He has _nothing _like that on Chulak. I'm pretty sure cookies'll be a _cinch!" _

Angel Food giggled. "So I take it that you accept our invitation?"

"_Absolutely!" _O'Neill said with a flourish.

"YES!" Bon Bon exclaimed as she got up on her hind legs and lifted her forelegs up above her head in joy.

"OH! I should mention that we are a pretty large family, _and _all of Bon Bon's friends will be there as well."

"Well, we have an old saying where we come from: The more, the merrier!" O'Neill admitted.

Bon Bon giggled. "We have the same saying…"

"Well, then, we share that much in common!" O'Neill said with a smile.

Angel Food giggled. "It would seem so. _Anyway, _here are the directions to our house…" she began.

O'Neill motioned for a pad and pencil, which was handed to him by a nearby police officer. "Okay, _shoot!"_

Once he got the directions, SG-1 and the happy group of ponies went on their separate itineraries for the rest of the day: SG-1 went back to the Prancing Pony Inn where they were to relax until their dinner date with Bon Bon, her family and friends that night; and the ponies for an afternoon of fun playing soccer at the local park.

Col. O'Neill went back up to the Stargate on Fire Mountain to make his report to the SGC. At the same time, he also asked that some of their civilian clothes be sent through, since they were going to be spending the week on P3X-2G2, and they didn't want to be stuck wearing their Army fatigues all the time. At the same time, he asked for his and Capt. Carter's dress uniforms for the school presentation they had to make tomorrow.

When O'Neill told General Hammond of their plans for the evening, the General reminded them to "be on their best behaviour as the goodwill Ambassadors of Earth".

"Yes, _daddy!" _Col. O'Neill said jokingly.

General Hammond couldn't help but smile. "Just don't do anything I wouldn't do. General Hammond out."

With this, the Stargate's wormhole WHOOSHed closed. Col. O'Neill picked up a couple of the suitcases containing the clothing he had asked for, and asked for the two pony police officers who had accompanied him to help with the rest. They now had everything they needed for their weeklong stay on P3X-2G2, the planet the local inhabitants called _Equus._


	5. Chapter 5 - Dinner At The Johnstons

**CHAPTER 5**

**DINNER AT THE JOHNSTONS**

The two taxis carrying SG-1 pulled up in front of Bon Bon's family home at about 6 PM, which was the appointed time for the dinner they were invited to.

The house the taxis stopped at was quite expansive and luxurious looking, which told SG-1 that Bon Bon's family was quite well-to-do. Bon Bon herself even said herself that she had a large family, so a big roof over their heads also made sense.

SG-1 received a warm welcome from Bon Bon's mother, who answered the doorbell that Col. O'Neill rang. Since this was not a formal occasion, SG-1 dressed casually. O'Neill wore jeans, a plain black T-shirt and simple white sneakers. Capt. Carter wore jeans as well with a mint coloured blouse and pink Nike shoes. Dr. Jackson decided to wear a red polo shirt with brown slacks and similarly coloured loafers. Even Teal'c looked pretty casual with his khaki slacks, Hawaiian style T-shirt, black dress shoes and fedora. The enticing aroma of freshly baked bread told SG-1 that they were in for a fine spread. The aroma of baking cookies also told SG-1 that Bon Bon made good on her promise to treat them to one of her own special concoctions after dinner. The dining room was quite expansive! The dining table was set up banquet style for the numerous guests that were present, and the dinnerware looked to be quite luxurious.

As a rule, ponies didn't wear clothes; except on certain occasions, and when their profession or job called for it. When Bon Bon's father was introduced to SG-1, he was still wearing his white office shirt and black tie that he usually wore at his Accountant's job. It was here that SG-1 learned that Bean Counter Johnston worked for a major Accounting firm as a Professional Auditor, and was quite successful. He was a light gray pony with dark blue mane and tail with an adding machine as his talent mark. Bon Bon's mother, Angel Food, _was, _in fact, a Baker working for a local bake shop where she made all sorts of baked goods every day, and was paid really well for what she did.

When Bon Bon asked why SG-1 made it a point to wear clothes all the time, Capt. Carter answered that it wouldn't be _proper _for them to go around without clothes in public, and that they obviously didn't have the thick fur coats of ponies to protect them from the elements. Capt. Carter was visibly blushing.

"I must apologize for my daughter, if that seemed impolite…" Angel Food quickly said, seeing Capt. Carter's slight discomfort.

"I'm sorry." Bon Bon said in an apologetic voice.

"No! It's okay…" Capt. Carter said reassuringly.

During the course of the dinner, SG-1 got to meet Bon Bon's younger siblings Amber, Twink, Rusty and her infant brother who has yet to be named. As a rule, ponies didn't name their children until it was discovered what their unique talent and calling in life would be, and then they were named accordingly. Most ponies begin to show their talent by the age of five, and their talent mark magically appears. The young pony then starts attending Grade School afterwards. Until then, the child is usually referred to as simply "Baby"; and sometimes "Colt" or "Filly", depending on the gender. In this case, Bon Bon's younger brother would be referred to as "Baby Johnston" or "Colt Johnston" until his talent is discovered and he is given his name. Bon Bon's older sister Misty couldn't make it to the family dinner. She had started working for the Weather Bureau as soon as she graduated High School, since her talent was keeping track of weather patterns. She had moved out a short time after she was hired.

SG-1 also got to know Bon Bon's friends a little bit better. Starlight was the undisputed leader of the group, and tends to often be the voice of reason and sensibility. She has aspirations of being a Teacher after she graduates. Her star pattern talent mark denotes her talent for stargazing.

Sweetheart certainly lives up to her name, as she is the _sweetheart _of the group, and tends to spread some of that sweetness around. She has ambitions of becoming a Doctor or a Nurse once she graduates, and her heart pattern talent mark denotes her talent of showing love and kindness towards others.

Melody is the _fashionista _of the group, and has a bit of an egotistical side, as she often thinks of herself and what she wants, instead of what her friends would want. Her talent mark of a microphone surrounded by musical notes would denote her talent for singing. She even boasted about being a famous rock star someday! She told SG-1 about the band she formed with musicians from other schools, and they called themselves _The Rockin' Beats._

"How _interesting!" _Dr. Jackson commented.

"I _gotta _hear some of your stuff one of these days!" Col. O'Neill stated.

"I'm sure that can be arranged…" Melody said with a smile.

"They're _really _good, too!" Sweetheart said happily. "I've _often _heard them play!"

"We _all _did, Sweetheart…" Bright Eyes said with some irritation, as she felt that her friend was leaving her and the rest of her friends out of a wonderful shared experience.

Speaking of Bright Eyes, this teenaged mare was the one who always did the heavy thinking of the group. She always tends to think things through, when confronted with a problem. Her talent mark denotes her talent for writing. She has aspirations of being an Environmental Journalist after she graduates, and maybe start her own environmental column. Since her father was the Editor of the local newspaper, he was sure to help her start her journalism career.

Patch was the sports nut of the group, and was a member of the local coed soccer team. She is the _tomboy _of the group who often times prefers to do things more suited for guys, like play sports. Her talent mark denotes her talent for sewing and making clothes, which is probably the only _girly _thing she would have a talent for. She aspires, however, to become an Actress; or even become a _circus clown! _This greatly surprised Col. O'Neill, as this ambition goes completely against her natural talent. _Well, since she's the "class clown", I guess it's normal that she'd want to be a clown in real life. At least, she can make her own costumes. _O'Neill thought to himself with an inward chuckle.

Clover, or Clover _Leaf, _as her friends call her, is the awkward one of the group. She has self esteem problems, and often thinks of herself as being too clumsy and inept at whatever she tries to do. Strangely enough, she aspires to become a Dancer, like her older sister, who is apparently a famous Dancer herself on Equus.

"If only you can get over your _stage fright _problem!" Patch teased.

"Shut up, Patch!" Clover replied harshly, which brought giggles from all of their friends.

Clover's talent mark was an actual clover leaf, because her talent was actually bringing good fortune to everyone around her, even though she's never felt lucky herself.

Finally, Bon Bon didn't stand out from the group in any special way, except for her natural talent for cooking and baking. It was surprising for SG-1 to know that she aspired to become a fashion model after she graduated.

"You know, that's real surprising." Col. O'Neill would even admit. "Based on your flank symbol, you should probably go work in a candy store, or in a confectionary factory somewhere, or even go help your mother out at her bake shop. You guys don't have Willy Wonka here, do you?"

Bon Bon shrugged. "A pony's natural talent doesn't automatically mean that that's what they want to do as a career. I mean, look at Patch here!" she gestured to her friend. "She wants to be a circus clown, while her natural talent would mean that she would become a seamstress, or even a _sports star, _based on the way she plays soccer."

Col. O'Neill nodded. "Of course, you're free to make your own choice; and you're the one who knows what's best for you more than anybody. I, myself, knew from an early age that I wanted to be in the Military…"

"But that was mostly because your father was a military man himself…" Capt. Carter commented.

"True, but that didn't mean that I wanted to grow up to become a _Lawyer, _did it?" O'Neill retorted.

Capt. Carter decided to leave it at that.

More pleasant conversation continued all throughout the remainder of the meal. Even though the ponies had heard plenty from SG-1 during the Town Council meeting earlier that day, they had told more stories about life on Earth, and whatever they could tell about the other Stargate worlds they've explored. Teal'c told more stories about life on Chulak. The ponies gathered around the expansive dinner table were an eager audience. They even learned that Teal'c's people, the Jaffa, had their own name for the Stargate: The Chappa Eye.

Once the meal was over, the batch of cookies Bon Bon had put in the oven were almost done. The aroma that kept wafting into the dining room had almost everybody in anticipation for the fresh baked goodness that was to come.

"Well, those cookies should be just about done." Bon Bon announced as she got up from her place at the table. "I should go take them out of the oven." She said as she moved towards the kitchen.

Everybody got up to follow Bon Bon into the kitchen. Angel Food and Bon Bon's younger sisters Amber and Twink stayed behind to help clear the table. Capt. Carter offered to help, but Angel Food told her not to bother, since she was a guest for the evening. Carter decided not to press the issue any further. The kitchen itself was not as expansive as the dining room, but there was enough room for everyone of the guests to fit inside.

"Well, that was a most enjoyable dinner." Dr. Jackson said politely.

"Yes, it was!" Capt. Carter nodded.

"Yeah. That garden salad and fruit cake was simply _to die for…" _Col. O'Neill said.

"Well, I thought the fresh baked bread was pretty good!" Dr. Jackson smiled.

Even though Capt. Carter saw that Col. O'Neill was putting up a polite front as best he could, she knew him well enough to tell that he felt a meal without any kind of meat dish simply _wasn't _a meal at all. He would much rather enjoy a feast that included some kind of poultry, or roast beef, or even hot dogs and hamburgers off of a barbecue! _But, _you couldn't expect that on a planet made up exclusively of vegetarian ponies, can you?

"And this _wine! _OH!" O'Neill exclaimed as he held up his half full glass of white wine.

"You really _liked _it?" Angel Food asked.

"Yeah! I don't drink wine very often. I'm more of a _beer _drinker, but I swear that this is the _best tasting _wine I've ever had!" O' Neill said as he took another sip from his glass.

Angel Food giggled. "You flatter me!" she said with a wave of her forehoof, visibly blushing.

"I'd've _loved _to have tasted some of that wine." Patch admitted. "It's too bad we're not old enough to drink." She joked in reference to her friends, who all giggled.

The sound of a bell coming from the oven told everyone that Bon Bon's cookies were done. "AH! They're ready!" Bon Bon said as she moved to take them out of the oven.

"So what yummy recipe do you have for us, Bon Bon?" Starlight asked.

"Oatmeal raisin!" Bon Bon announced as she pulled a bake sheet filled with exactly two dozen cookies.

"MMMMMM!" all of the girls called out in unison, licking their lips in anticipation.

Everyone of Bon Bon's friends grabbed a cookie as soon as they were placed on a platter. Even though the cookies were still a bit hot, the girls could handle them with ease. "Want some, guys?" Bon Bon asked SG-1 as she gestured towards the platter.

"Don't mind if I do!" Dr. Jackson said as he grabbed a cookie off of the platter. Capt. Carter and Teal'c followed suit.

"What about _you, _Col. O'Neill?" Bon Bon asked.

O'Neill politely shook his head. "I'm more of a chocolate chip kinda guy…"

Capt. Carter rolled her eyes.

"Oh! Well, I have some chocolate chip cookies on another tray here." Bon Bon said as she brought out a platter that had some actual chocolate chip cookies on it. "They were made _yesterday." _

Col. O'Neill helped himself to some of those. Bon Bon's father did as well. Col. O'Neill guessed they were _his _favourite, too.

"UMMMM!" Clover moaned. "These cookies are _delicious, _Bon Bon!"

"Yes! _Really _good!" Sweetheart said happily as she finished off her cookies, and immediately helped herself to another.

"Don't tell me they bake cookies on Chulak, Teal'c?" O'Neill asked as he noticed the big Jaffa munching on the oatmeal raisin cookie he had taken.

"As a matter of fact, we _do, _Col. O'Neill." Teal'c admitted. "My wife, in particular, has a recipe for sugar cookies that she used to make quite often. It is, as you say, to _die _for…"

"Really!?" O'Neill said in surprise. "You've _gotta _bake us a batch one of these days!"

"Very well." Teal'c said with his usual slight smile and nod.

"Is that the biggest smile he can do?" Patch whispered to O'Neill.

"Actually, I've never seen him smile _harder…" _O'Neill whispered back.

Everybody retired early after that; since it was a weeknight, and all of the girls had school tomorrow. Bon Bon's parents had to get to work pretty early as well; especially Angel Food, who had to be at the bake shop pretty early to start work on the first morning batch of pastries.

Those of Bon Bon's friends who lived close by decided to walk home, while Bean Counter offered to give those girls that lived farther out a ride home. They were all offered to bring home the leftover cookies Bon Bon had baked for them, which they accepted with joy. Small paper bags containing an equal amount of cookies were prepared for them. The same offer was made to the members of SG-1, which they also accepted. Paper bags were prepared for them as well. While Carter, Jackson and Teal'c took the remainder of the oatmeal raisin cookies, O'Neill took a few more of the chocolate chip cookies from the previous day.

After thanking the Johnstons for the wonderful evening, SG-1 got into the taxis that were to take them back to the Prancing Pony Inn where they stayed. Tomorrow was another day! The members of SG-1 were supposed to make their own presentation at the girls' school tomorrow, at the request of their Teacher, Miss Hackney. Each member of SG-1 would spend the rest of the evening thinking about what they were going to say to the kids tomorrow before finally going to bed.


	6. Chapter 6 - Career Day

**CHAPTER 6**

**CAREER DAY**

The taxis dropped off SG-1 in front of the building that served as the one room schoolhouse for the teenaged ponies. It looked pretty nondescript with a simple white pennant fluttering in the breeze on the lone flagpole that stood in front of the building. There were what looked like two giant oak trees on either side of the building. It was a good thing the taxi drivers ferrying SG-1 knew right where the building was, because there was no sign on the front indicating that this was a school; and it looked like any other government building; presuming the local government funded the school.

"How _quaint!" _Jack O'Neill commented as he stepped out of the taxi and took in the sight.

The building itself was painted all in pink with curtained windows all around. The roof itself was pink as well, but in a slightly darker shade than the outer walls. To Jack, it looked more like a retirement home for little old ladies than a school. Samantha Carter and Dr. Jackson thought the design of the school was quite cute, while Teal'c just stood in his usual unemotional state, not seeming to form any opinion about what he saw.

On this occasion, Jack and Sam wore their dress uniforms, not only to make a good impression on the young ponies, but as a show of the grandeur of the U.S. Armed Forces. Dr. Jackson wore his beige leisure suit with brown loafers, and similarly matching dark brown tie. Teal'c thought to wear his Jaffa Army uniform, but Jack O'Neill convinced him otherwise so as not to intimidate the young ponies too much. Therefore, he decided to wear the fatigue uniform that was issued to him by the S.G.C.

The day was warm and sunny, so Jack wore his Air Force issue sunglasses. He didn't bother to take them off when they entered the schoolhouse.

It wasn't difficult to find Miss Hackney's classroom. It wasn't a very big school, and the lone Secretary on duty was able to easily direct them to the classroom while saying that they were being expected. They passed by a middle aged looking Janitor busy cleaning the hallway floor. The members of SG-1 nodded to him, wishing him a good morning. The Janitor smiled and nodded back, returning the good morning.

Miss Hackney's voice echoing from a nearby room told SG-1 that they've found her classroom. She was probably reviewing the previous day's material while waiting for the "important guests" to show up. Jack O'Neill approached the door frame and knocked on it, causing Miss Hackney to turn around.

"AH! There you are!" she said happily. "Please, do come in!" she gestured, and SG-1 entered the room.

A few gasps of surprise were heard from the students as Jack and his team entered the room. Some whispering and muttering amongst themselves could also be heard as they gazed at this awesome sight.

"Class!" Miss Hackney called out, which silenced the room instantly. "As promised, we have four important guests here who have come to talk to you today. I want you all to show them the same amount of respect you show _me. _They will each, in turn, introduce themselves, tell us about themselves, what they do, and a bit about the world they come from; as a sort of _career day _for you all. Let us begin with _you." _She pointed to Jack O'Neill. "You have the floor." She gestured. She then indicated a row of chairs next to her desk for the rest of SG-1 to sit upon, which they did.

Jack took in the sight of a classroom as he approached to stand in front of the class. It contained everything you'd expect to find in a classroom. Contrary to the outside walls of the school, the classroom walls were painted in a dark beige. The curtains on the windows, however, were the same pink colour as the outside walls.

Still wearing his sunglasses, Jack smiled and waved to the class. "Hi, kids!" he said in his best voice. He finally took off the sunglasses and put them in the left front pocket of his dress uniform jacket. "My name is Colonel Jack O'Neill of the United States Air Force… of _Earth!"_

"Hi, Jack!" said a young male pony in the back room as he waived.

Jack gave him the wink and the gun.

This pony was dark blue in colour with orange mane and tail. His mane was done in a Mohawk style. Jack noticed that his talent mark was a black comb. It made him wonder if his natural talent was being a Barber; but after looking at his hairstyle, he thought better of it.

"Now, according to your _wonderful _Teacher here" Jack glanced back at Miss Hackney, who was just getting back into her chair behind her desk. "For the next hour or so" he glanced at his watch "I'm supposed to tell you fine young folks about the U.S. Army, what I do for them, _and _I'm also supposed to talk a little bit about the planet where I come from; which means that, for that next hour or so, your tails are _mine!"_

He was met with stunned silence.

"That was a _joke,_ by the way…" Jack smiled awkwardly.

Most of the class giggled.

"But _please, _save your questions until the end. Now, to start off…"

For the next hour, Jack O'Neill went into a long dissertation about his life in the U.S. Air Force, what their role was on Earth, and a bit about the weaponry that they carry; but most importantly, how he came to be chosen to be a part of the S.G.C., and became the Commanding Officer for SG-1.

When he opened up the question period, a few hooves went up. He answered them one by one as best he could. Most of the questions, however, were asked by the dark blue pony with the orange Mohawk. Jack would learn that his name was Teddy Short, and was considered by most of the class to be the _bully, _especially from the girls. He seemed to show a great interest in the workings of the U.S. Armed Forces and their weaponry. Jack wondered if he would want to join their version of the Army when he graduates. If anything, the discipline they would offer would certainly keep him in line.

A cuckoo clock perched up on the far right wall that chirped at 10 A.M. briefly interrupted the question period. At around 10:30, all of the questions were answered. Jack thanked the class for their attention, and went to sit in the chair that was set out for him.

"Thank you, Colonel Jack O'Neill." Miss Hackney said. "A most impressive presentation, if I do say so myself! I feel our next speaker should be _this _fine young lady." Miss Hackney gestured to Samantha Carter, who got up to stand in front of the class.

Sam Carter introduced herself as a Captain in the U.S. Air Force, and told the story of how she, as an Astrophysicist, was brought into the Stargate Program to discover new planets and star systems that were part of the huge Stargate Network, and to offer a scientific point of view for everything they would discover on the planets that they would explore. She then spoke a little about some of the fascinating things she and her SG-1 friends and colleagues have discovered on other worlds, then went into detail about how the Stargates themselves worked, but this seemed to be over the heads of the students in the classroom.

Not a lot of questions were asked during her question period. Most of the questions that were asked, however, came from two of the fillies: Starlight, who seemed to show an interest in stargazing; and Bright Eyes, who seemed to show an interest in Science. Both fillies asked some really thought provoking questions, which Sam Carter was able to answer with ease, given her vast knowledge. This greatly impressed the girls!

The cuckoo clock on the wall sounding off the noon hour brought an end to the question period. "All right, class! Time for lunch!" Miss Hackney announced. A cheer went in the classroom as all of the students got up from their desks and hurried to the cafeteria. "You have one hour! Enjoy!" she called out as the class filed out.

Miss Hackney invited the SG-1 team to sample some of the cafeteria fare. The menu offered a variety of vegetable soups, salads, pies, cakes and what appeared to be strawberry gelatin. _Probably not Jell-O, _Col. O'Neill thought to himself. Capt. Carter saw that Jack was doing his best to tolerate the _vegetarian _fare. Jack certainly did miss his meat!

Since it was a nice sunny day, most of the students brought their lunches outside. There were a few picnic tables they could sit on. Those that couldn't find a place at a picnic table simply lay on the ground as they ate. SG-1 decided to follow the student's example and bring their own lunch outside. Miss Hackney decided to join them.

The students were given one hour for their lunch, which also acted as their recess, before class was to resume. Miss Hackney told SG-1 that all of the students in her class were quite glad to have her as a Teacher, and were quite happy to be here. She also spoke of the advantages of having a small class to look after, especially when it came to the occasional one or two ponies who had more difficulty grasping the subject matter. She could devote more time to them to make sure they fully understood before moving on to new material.

This particular school was pretty special, as it was one of the few surviving one room schoolhouses left on Equus. The students who attended this school were specifically chosen from larger schools from Grade 9, and started attending the school from Grades 10 through 12. But it wasn't just _any _student who went to this school, they needed to show a certain _proficiency _in learning. It _was_, in fact, a sort of school for _gifted _students.

Miss Hackney was specifically chosen to run this school, because she also showed a proficiency with learning; _and _attended a one room schoolhouse as a girl herself. She had been doing this for most of her life, too! Whenever she was assigned a new group of students, she always developed a certain attachment to them, as if they were her _own _children. She spoke highly about this particular group of students she had, for they demonstrated a unique dynamic between them. She even admitted that she would miss them when they graduated and moved on.

After they finished their lunch, SG-1 decided to wander around the yard of the school. There was still another half hour or so before class was in session again.

"Col. O'Neill! Col. O'Neill!" came a voice from behind Jack, who turned to see who was calling him.

"Teddy!" he exclaimed as the young stallion rushed up to join him. "What can I do for you, buddy!?"

"I just wanna say that I _really _liked that speech you gave this morning!" Teddy said.

"Why, thank you, Teddy!" Jack said. "It always pleases me when I've made an impression on one of you _younguns…" _

This made Teddy laugh.

"You thinkin' about joining The Army?" Jack asked. "Or whatever it is you have for Armed Forces around here?"

"Just the local Militia…" Teddy shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, my dad was a military pony himself; but since this a peaceful planet, there's not much call for a _huge _Army like the one _you've _described…"

"Well, whatever it is you decide to do after Graduation, Teddy, try to make it something that _you _think suits you best…"

"I'll try…" Teddy said.

"You know, I can't help but notice that that _girl _over there is lookin' at ya…" Jack said.

Teddy turned to follow Jack's gaze, and saw the white filly sitting at the picnic table quickly turn away when she saw Teddy looking at her.

"Oh. That's _Sweetheart. _One of Patch's friends. You know, the girl that's on our soccer team?"

"Oh, yeah! I know her. Quite a _live _one, that one." Jack admitted.

Teddy giggled. "Yeah. Sweetheart seems really nice. To _me, _especially. I don't know _why_, though. Everybody seems to think I'm a _jerk, _but not _her…"_

"I think it's because she _likes_ you, Teddy!" Jack said.

"Y-you think so?" Teddy asked.

"Yeah… I've seen the way she looks at you. Even _now. _Don't look!" Jack warned, for Teddy was about to turn towards Sweetheart again, who hadn't taken her eyes off of Teddy the whole time, until the girl sitting in front of her waved her hoof in front of her and said "Hellooo-oooo! Equus to Sweetheart!" so loudly that even Jack and Teddy could hear her. This brought Sweetheart back into the conversation.

"Have you ever been with a girl before, Teddy?"

"Well, _sure! _I mean… we hang out sometimes, but… Y-you really think she _likes _me?"

"Trust me, Teddy! She _does…" _Jack said, who noticed that Sweetheart was still glancing at Teddy from her seat at the picnic table every few seconds.

"W-what do you think I should _do?"_

Jack shrugged. "Ask her out!"

"Ask her _out?" _

"Yeah! It's not _that _hard! Invite her over to a… _veggie… _burger joint, or something… Or go with her to that ice cream shop she likes to hang out at. You know, something you _both _would like to do."

"Like _roller skating?"_

"Roller skating! Yes, see? That would be _perfect! _Just you and her…"

Teddy sighed. "I still don't know, Jack…"

Jack smiled as he placed a hand on Teddy's shoulder, and motioned for him to follow him as they walked. "Let me tell you a story, Teddy. You remind me a lot of _me _when I was your age: Arrogant, self centered, thought I was _all that…"_

"Oh." Teddy frowned.

"Now, I don't mean that in a _bad way, _Teddy! _Lots _of guys are like that. _But _something happened to me one day that changed my _whole outlook _on things…"

"What?"

"I fell in _love!" _Jack exclaimed as he spread his arms.

"What, with a _girl?"_

"Of _course _with a girl! What else!?"

"What was she like?"

"Ah, she was _gorgeous! _Prettiest girl in the whole school!" Jack motioned. "She had long blonde hair and…. Well, _you _get the idea…"

"Sounds _serious!"_

"It _was! _We dated throughout the whole 10th and 11th grade. First girl I _ever _fell in love with! I even remember her name: Becky Jo Quinn…" Jack smiled at the memory.

"What happened to her?"

"We finally broke it off sometime in Grade 12. Said she had 'other ideas'. At least she still agreed to be my prom date. Last I heard she married some big shot Lawyer and moved to Beverly Hills…"

Teddy chuckled. "Beverly Hills?"

"Yyyyyyeah. It's a city on Earth. Filled with _rich _folk…"

Teddy smiled. "Thanks, Jack! That really helps a lot…"

"Anytime!" Jack returned the smile and patted Teddy on his shoulder.

"All right, class! Recess is over! Time to move back inside!" called Miss Hackney from the steps of the school. This was met with a lot of groans and whines, but everybody moved back into the school for the afternoon session.

Once everyone was settled in, Miss Hackney said the following. "Now we will continue with our career day session by inviting _you, _young male, to address the class." She motioned for Daniel Jackson to stand.

"Thank you, Miss Hackney!" Daniel said as he stood up and moved to stand in front of the class. "Well, my name is Dr. Daniel Jackson. I'm a member of SG-1, _and _I'm the resident Archaeologist and Egyptologist of Stargate Command. Welcome to Archaeology 101!" Daniel Jackson smiled. Some of the students smiled in return.

For the next hour or so, Dr. Jackson gave a long winded presentation about the basics of Archaeology and spoke about Egyptian mythology. He even used the chalkboard at the front of the classroom to illustrate certain things.

While most of the classroom seemed bored by Dr. Jackson's speech, he noticed that one particular dark blue pony with deep red mane and tail sitting at a middle desk was paying close attention to what he was saying. At the end of his presentation, most of the few questions that were asked to him came from that young stallion.

Dr. Jackson would later learn that his name was Lancer Bergeron, and he had shown a keen interest in exploration. Jackson wondered if he had aspirations in becoming an Archaeologist like him. It would explain why he seemed quite interested in his presentation. His talent mark was a Fleur De Lis, the symbol of French royalty and nobility. Jackson wondered if this young pony spoke French. Being fluent in several different languages, including French, he was eager to converse with him to see if he really _did _speak French. Such a thing would be very refreshing to Daniel!

"Thank you, Dr. Jackson, for that _wonderful _presentation." Miss Hackney said when all of the questions the students had for Daniel were exhausted. Daniel went to retake his seat with the rest of SG-1.

"And now, last but not least, I give the floor to Teal'c who, I'm sure, has _quite a few _interesting things to tell you all."

Teal'c, who had been sitting quietly the whole time, showed his weak smile as he nodded to Miss Hackney, and got up to stand in front of the class, who were quite in awe of the big Jaffa.

"Greetings, young ones!" he began as he bowed. "I am Teal'c. I am what is known as a _Jaffa, _and I hail from the planet Chulak…"

For the remainder of the day, Teal'c told the story about life on Chulak, about how every young Jaffa man of fighting age was conscribed into the Jaffa Army, who was being used by the Goa'uld Empire in their bid to conquer the galaxy; and how he had taken on as his personal quest to free all of his Jaffa brethren from that tyranny so that they can be free to make their own choices as to how they should live.

He even told the story of how he came to join the S.G.C. and SG-1 in his bid to fight the oppressive Goa'uld; and how Col. Jack O'Neill played a major role in convincing Teal'c to throw down his shackles of oppression and join SG-1 in their plight to free all peoples of the galaxy from the Goa'uld.

Teal'c even drew a crude reproduction on the chalkboard of the Jaffa staff weapon that was given to him when he was first conscribed into the Jaffa forces as he described how it worked. He would've liked to have brought the actual staff weapon he used, but it was still kept in the lock up at the local Police Precinct.

Most of the students were quite saddened and horrified by Teal'c's story, even Miss Hackney. At the end of his presentation, almost everyone in the classroom raised their hoof, for they had many questions they wanted to ask the big Jaffa. Teal'c did his best to answer them. On some of them, though, either Col. O'Neill, Sam Carter or Dr. Jackson stood up to answer for Teal'c. Most of the questions were about the society on Chulak and life in the Jaffa Army. Teal'c answered most of those.

The cuckoo clock on the right hand wall chimed the 3 PM hour just as the last question was answered. "All right, class! That brings an end to today's session." Miss Hackney announced as she stood up from her place behind her desk. The whole class cheered as they filed out the door.

As Miss Hackney was thanking SG-1 for taking the time to talk to her students today, two of the young teenaged fillies approached SG-1. "Um, excuse me, Col. O'Neill?"

"_Yes, _Patch!" Jack said when she saw who it was.

"The girls and I were wondering if you'd like to join us at the ice cream shop?" Patch asked rather shyly.

"Hey, we could _always _go for ice cream! What d'ya say, kids?"

"Sounds good!" Sam Carter smiled.

"Sure!" Dr. Jackson said.

"Indeed." Teal'c said with his usual weak smile.

"Great!" Patch smiled. "OH, and Melody would like to invite you all to dinner at her place tonight."

"It'll give you all a chance to meet my family." Melody said. "We don't offer much, but we're happy with what we've got. Say, around 7 o'clock?"

"We'd be _delighted!" _Jack said happily.

Melody smiled. "Excellent! OH, and I have band practice afterwards with the rest of The Rockin' Beats. You're more than welcome to attend…"

"Well I, personally, can't _wait _to hear some of your stuff." O' Neill said.

"GREAT!" Melody exclaimed.

As they moved to the exit at the front of the school, SG-1 noticed that the young ponies were standing in line in front of a children's slide that led to the outside, and they were each taking their turn in sliding down it.

"What's this?" Jack asked curiously.

"OH, well, we always seem to have a lot of energy when he leave school every day; so we use this slide to spend some of it. It was finally installed last year!" Melody answered.

"It was kind of _my _idea…" Patch said shyly.

"Well, _I'd _like to try it! How 'bout you guys?" Jack asked the rest of SG-1.

"No, thanks." Sam Carter smiled politely.

"Yeah, we'll just go out the front door, like we _always _do…" Dr. Jackson said.

Teal'c simply showed his usual weak smile and nodded as he followed Sam and Daniel outside.

"Your loss!" Jack shrugged. He then stood in line, waiting for his turn to use the slide.

The three members of SG-1 had just exited the school as Jack O'Neill was coming down the slide. "YEEHAW!" he cried as he came down. "Makes you feel like a kid again!" he exclaimed as he got up and dusted himself off.

"Whatever you say, Jack!" Dr. Jackson said with a slight roll of his eyes.

Sam Carter simply smiled while Teal'c just stood there silently with his hand behind his back, like he usually stands.

This was a side of Col. O'Neill that Captain Carter never got to see! He was usually so serious and somewhat dour, even on the few fishing trips to his cabin she went on with him. She found herself actually admiring this unfamiliar trait with her Commanding Officer!

* * *

They met the girls at the ice cream shop later that day. They took the time to change into more casual wear for the occasion. They sat at a table big enough for the four of them while the girls, Lancer and another boy named Ace, who was the _jock _of the school, sat at adjacent tables.

A familiar pony wearing roller skates, and wearing a Waitress' uniform, came up to their table. "Welcome to the Rainbow Fare Ice Cream Shop! I'll be your Waitress today." She said as she handed out the menus.

"I didn't know you worked here!" Capt. Carter exclaimed in surprise, when she saw who it was.

"Of _course!" _Starlight said. "My mother owns the place, _and _the beauty salon next door. I work here for a few hours each day after school."

"Nice touch with the roller skates!" Col. O'Neill said as he glanced at the skates she was wearing. "Very 50s diner… _ish!" _

"_Thanks!" _Starlight said. "It was my own personal idea. I think it adds a certain _flair _to my Waitressing!" She said as she spun around in a circle. The familiar sound of the roller skates resonated throughout the ice cream shop. "My mother doesn't seem to mind…"

"So you girls like roller skating?" Dr. Jackson asked in conversation.

"Oh, _yes! _We do it almost every weekend. Even the _boys! _Matter of fact, there's a _big _roller race this Saturday at the local rink. We're all gonna be in it." Starlight's face lit up as an idea came to her. _"HEY! _Why don't you come and _join_ us!? Maybe even _participate _in the races!"

"I'm all for it!" Sam Carter smiled.

"Why not!?" Col. O'Neill shrugged.

Teal'c simply nodded.

"Yeah, that's _great, _except I've never roller skated in my _life…" _Dr. Jackson said embarrassingly.

"AH, don't worry, we'll teach ya!" O'Neill said with a dismissive wave of his hand.

"Guess you can count me _in!" _Dr. Jackson smiled and shrugged.

"_Great!" _Starlight smiled brightly. "It's a _date, _then! SO, have you all decided what you'd like to have?" she asked as she pulled out a small scratch pad from her uniform pocket and grabbed a pencil out of her mane and prepared to write.

"Yeah! I'd like a _big _triple fudge ice cream sundae with _extra _rainbow sprinkles!" Col. O'Neill said as he gestured with his hands.

"_Excellent _choice!" Starlight said happily as she wrote. "And you?" she then asked Dr. Jackson.

"I'll have the same, except make mine _butterscotch…_" he smiled.

"Okie dokie!" Starlight said as she wrote. "And for _you, _pretty lady?" she asked Capt. Carter.

"Do you have any frozen yogurt?" Carter asked.

"_Sure _we do! We have all varieties of frozen yogurts to suit the tastes of all of the _health nuts _out there!" Starlight said as she pointed to the related item on the menu.

"Well, in _that _case, I'll have the strawberry frozen yogurt parfait." Carter smiled.

"Oh, yeah! That's perfectfor _you,_ Carter…" O'Neill teased.

Carter couldn't help but make a face at him.

Starlight chuckled at their banter. "And for _you, _big boy?" she asked Teal'c.

"The strawberry frozen yogurt parfait sounds enticing. I believe I shall have the same…" the big Jaffa said as he handed back the menu.

"_What!?"_ Col. O'Neill exclaimed. "Aw, Teal'c! That is just _wrong…"_ He shook his head.

Teal'c smiled weakly and simply shrugged.

"All _rightee _then!" Starlight said as she took back the menus. "I'll be _right _back!" she then said as she skated away.

For the rest of the afternoon, the entire group enjoyed some pleasant conversation while they had their ice cream treats. It was here that Dr. Jackson learned that Lancer didn't speak a lot of French. Even though there was a lot of French in his family, he knew only a few words; but he would also learn that Clover Leaf's older sister, Meadowlark, recently got married to a stallion named Cheval Leblanc; and _he _was a true French pony. Clover Leaf sadly said that her older sister would've loved to meet Dr. Jackson and his friends, but she was part of a big time dancing troupe, and they were currently on tour. One thing Dr. Jackson _did _know was that Lancer had strong ambitions to become an Archaeologist, just like him, which allowed him to build a rapport with the young stallion.

* * *

Later that evening, as promised, SG-1 was treated to dinner at Melody's house. They weren't as well-to-do, compared with Bon Bon's family, but they still lived in a modest house in the suburbs of Ponyville, and lived quite a happy family life. Melody's mother was a Nurse at the local hospital while her father worked construction. His talent mark was even a hard hat that actually matched the one he wore at his job! She had two younger twin sisters: Jing-A-Ling and Ting-A-Ling.

While everyone of Melody's friends had to report back to their own respective homes, Lancer's parents gave him permission to have dinner at Melody's house. This gave Lancer an excuse to hang out with Dr. Jackson a bit more, whom he began to admire a great deal.

Because the younger twins wanted pizza, that was what was on the menu for dinner that night; so they sprang for take-out. Even though it was just vegetarian pizza, the entire SG-1 thought it was pretty good, even Col. O'Neill!

Later on, the members of Melody's band showed up for their rehearsal, and they went into the house's garage to practice. Melody introduced the members of her band, The Rockin' Beats, to SG-1. They were an all girl band that actually went to different schools in the area, and they made it a habit to gather once or twice a week like this to practice. They sometimes got gigs to play in local schools, and as an opener to a bigger band's concert. Melody said she had a big ambition of being a famous rock star someday, and her parents seemed quite supportive of her ambitions.

"So, what did you guys think?" Melody asked the members of SG-1 after they completed a short session, which included what was claimed to be their no. 1 song: Sweet Music.

"It was _great!" _Sam Carter said.

"I liked it!" said Dr. Jackson.

"Indeed." Teal'c said simply.

"Yeah, your stuff is pretty decent, but… you wouldn't happen to know any Blondie, would you? Or Joan Jett and The Blackhearts?" Col. O'Neill asked.

The fillies blinked in confusion.

"NAH, I didn't think so." Col. O'Neill said. "But seriously, girls, your stuff is _good, really!"_

Melody smiled as she relaxed. "I'm glad. I wasn't sure if you'd like our music or not…"

"Excuse me?" Melody's mother said as she came to the threshold of the door that led to the garage. "But there's a phone call for Dr. Jackson…"

Daniel Jackson's face betrayed his surprise. "Oh? Well, I guess I'd better go take it then. Excuse me." He said as he followed Melody's mother back into the house.

Meanwhile, Melody's band continued to jam away with their instruments while Melody herself practiced a few vocals.

A great shout of "YES!" coming from inside the house stopped everyone in their tracks. "I got it! I GOT IT!" said a beaming Dr. Jackson as he came to the threshold with his fists raised in triumph.

"Got _what?" _O'Neill asked.

"Great news!" Jackson began. "That was somebody from the Mayor's office. They've finally given me permission to explore that cave next to the Stargate!"

"Good for _you, _Daniel!" said a smiling Col. O'Neill as he patted Dr. Jackson on the shoulder. "I _know _how bad you've been wanting this…"

"So, do you really think you'll be able to find the remnants of a Goa'uld lab in there?" Capt. Carter asked.

"I hope so!" Dr. Jackson admitted. "It'll confirm a lot of my theories, if I do…"

"Um… Dr. Jackson?" Lancer asked shyly.

"Yes, Lancer? You know you can call me _Daniel, _right?"

"Right. A-anyway… I-I was wondering if you'd like to have some _help _in your exploring…"

Dr. Jackson sighed. "I don't know, Lancer. It could be _dangerous, _and the last thing I want is to see you get _hurt…" _

"But I wanna _help!" _Lancer argued. "You know I wanna be an Archaeologist when I graduate. This'll give me the chance to do some _field _work…"

"Aw, c'mon, Daniel! Give the kid a _shot." _O'Neill said.

Daniel pondered this for a few moments, then finally nodded. "All right. I could always use a helping… _hoof!" _He smiled.

Lancer breathed a huge sigh of relief. "Thank you, Dr. Jackson, THANK YOU! Uhh… I mean… _Daniel…" _He smiled awkwardly.

This brought about laughter from all assembled.

Daniel and Lancer convened to meet at the foot of Fire Mountain first thing tomorrow morning to start hiking up to the cave to begin their exploration. For the next hour or so, Melody's band continued to practice. They called a halt to their rehearsal when Half Note's, one of the band's guitarists, father showed up to take her home. The rest of the band retired back to their homes as well. SG-1 called for taxis to take them back to their hotel for the night. Tomorrow would be another big day for all of them!


	7. Chapter 7 - Cave Exploration

**CHAPTER 7**

**CAVE EXPLORATION**

At about 9 AM the next day, Dr. Jackson and Lancer Bergeron met at the foot of Fire Mountain. They didn't waste time in starting the hike up the mountain. It took about a half hour of hiking to reach the cave next to the Stargate.

On this occasion, Dr. Jackson wore his Army fatigues; while Lancer didn't bother to put on any clothes, save for a hard hat and a belt with a back pack containing some Archaeology equipment. Even though Dr. Jackson said the M.A.L.P. carried whatever equipment they would need, Lancer insisted on bringing some of his own, mostly belonging to his father.

Once Dr. Jackson had gathered whatever equipment he needed from the M.A.L.P., they set to work exploring the cave. They had each brought a flashlight that served to give them sufficient lighting so they could see. Without those flashlights, everything in the cave would be pitch black.

The cave itself ran pretty deep. They had been walking through it for about an hour or so. Some places were pretty narrow, but there was still enough space for them to squeeze through.

"Well, the Mayor wasn't lying when he said this place was picked clean. There's _nothing _left!" Dr. Jackson said.

"If there was anything in here worth mentioning, I'm sure those Archaeologists would've told us." Lancer said.

"Yeah, well… I can't shake the feeling that there may have been something they've _missed." _Dr. Jackson said.

"Hmm!" Lancer looked up. "Makes me wonder how solid the ceiling is…" He lifted the pick axe he was carrying up to the cave's ceiling and tapped it.

"No, Lancer, DON'T!" Dr. Jackson exclaimed.

No sooner had he said that that the section of the ceiling Lancer tapped came down. He had just enough time to get out of the way before the debris landed on top of him. A medium sized rock struck him on the brim of his hard helmet. Had he not been wearing it, he may have been knocked out.

"You almost caused a _cave in!" _Dr. Jackson gave the young stallion a stern look.

"Sorry." Lancer said, coughing up some of the dust that had gotten in his lungs.

"I don't wanna have to carry you out of here, should you get _injured." _Dr. Jackson looked him over. "You look heavy enough to begin with…"

"Hey! I'll have you know that I weigh a slim trim 175 pounds!" Lancer retorted.

"Suuuuure, Lancer!"

"What, you don't _believe _me!? When we get back, I can step on a scale and _show _you!"

"CAN it!" Dr. Jackson exclaimed. "We've still got a lot of exploring to do. Come on!" Dr. Jackson led Lancer further down the cave.

They proceeded down the cave for another half hour before they reached a wall of rubble that looked to have been the aftermath of an ancient earthquake or cave in. "It's no use! It's a dead end." Lancer said as he examined the wall, looking for an opening. "We'll have to turn back." He said with finality.

Dr. Jackson looked dejected. "Yeah."

Lancer patted him on his shoulder. "At least we gave it a _shot." _He smiled.

Dr. Jackson returned the smile, and turned to follow Lancer back the way they came. "Wait!" Dr. Jackson exclaimed as he noticed a crack on the right hand wall of the cave.

"What is it, Dr. Jackson?" Lancer asked.

Daniel brought his ear closer to the crack. He thought he heard the sound of air moving through the crack. He also thought he felt it on his face. "Help me with this!" He told Lancer as he reached for the pickaxe he was carrying.

Following Daniel's lead, Lancer used his own pickaxe to strike the cave wall. It only took them a few minutes to break through the wall, as the rock yielded easily under the pickaxes. As they cleared the debris away, they found that they had revealed a previously unseen chamber. They shone their flashlights inside. Dr. Jackson recognized instantly what they were looking at.

"What _is _this place!?" Lancer asked in astonishment.

"It's a _lab." _Dr. Jackson answered as he saw all of the tell tale signs.

There were several tables that looked big enough to place a medium sized horse on it with restraints for each of the four legs, and the head. Dr. Jackson didn't bother to look at anything else in the room, as his attention was instantly brought to the writing on the walls.

"B-but… Who would build a lab deep inside a _cave!?" _Lancer asked.

"Goa'ulds!" Dr. Jackson said in answer.

"_Goulds? _Y-you mean those… _evil aliens _Col. O'Neill kept talking about?"

"_Exactly!" _Dr. Jackson said. "This is _definitely _their doing! Look at the writing…" He directed his flashlight at the far right wall. Lancer saw what looked like ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics. "This is their _language. _Looks like my theory about your sentience developing overnight was _true." _

"T-then… what we've believed… for the past two thousand years or so… was a _lie?" _Lancer looked dejected.

Dr. Jackson laid a comforting hand on Lancer's shoulder. "I'm sorry." He felt his sadness.

Lancer then noticed something on the far left side of the room. "Hey, _Dr. Jackson! _Look at this!" He moved over to the thing that caught his attention.

Dr. Jackson followed Lancer to what looked like a chair big enough for a pony to sit in. There were the remnants of restraints for all four legs and the head. Hanging over the chair was what looked to be a hard plastic dome with metal protrusions. The dome was attached to a swing arm that could be moved up and down at will. It was attached to a now defunct control console with several buttons embossed with Goa'uld lettering. It looked like a mind altering device often seen in science fiction movies.

"Now what do you think _this _is?" Lancer asked.

"No doubt this is what they used to enhance the ponies' brain capacity, which allowed them to increase their _intelligence…"_

"And the tables?" Lancer asked.

"Probably used for _sedation." _Dr. Jackson said in answer. "Ra probably had several Jaffa drag the poor ponies in here, kicking and screaming. Once they got them properly restrained on the table, they were injected with _tranquilizers! _Once they were properly sedated, they were moved _here" _Jackson gestured to the pony sized chair. "so the Goa'uld could start their intelligence enhancing experiments on 'em…"

"That's _horrible!" _Lancer exclaimed sadly.

Dr. Jackson nodded. "As Col. O'Neill would say: That's the Goa'uld for ya!"

Lancer could easily imagine the poor ponies being dragged in the lab against their will. He could almost _feel _the rope they would've used burning his neck. He could also feel their enormous fear and alarm as they were forced down upon one of the tables and placed under the restraints, as well as the tranquilizers being injected into the ponies with the help of a syringe or a blow gun.

Dr. Jackson could easily imagine the now sedated ponies being taken from the restraining tables and placed into the chair he and Lancer were now facing. He could also hear the frightened whinneys of the poor pony being slowly replaced by more human sounding screams of pain and anguish as the intelligence enhancing experiment was taking place.

"W-why would they _do _such a thing!?" Lancer exclaimed suddenly as he broke down into sobs.

Daniel Jackson place a comforting hand on Lancer's shoulders. "Because they're _tyrants" _Daniel said softly. "Hell bent on _conquering _this entire galaxy by any means necessary, and they don't _care _who gets harmed in their attempts to achieve that dastardly goal…"

Lancer kept on sobbing, despite Daniel's attempts to comfort him. If anything, he can surely sympathize with what Lancer was feeling right now, having lost his wife, Sha'Uri, to the Goa'uld a short time ago.

"Come on!" Daniel encouraged. "We've gotta report this back to the Town Council, _and _I've gotta make my report to General Hammond…"

Lancer sniffed as he nodded. "Okay…" he said in a hoarse voice as he wiped a tear from his cheek.

Daniel smiled at the young stallion as he patted him. He then moved to take out his video camera from his backpack to start filming their discovery.

* * *

Back at the SGC's control room, Sergeant Harriman was showing the video Dr. Jackson sent through the open wormhole of the Stargate on his computer monitor. "Good work, Dr. Jackson!" General Hammond said into the microphone as he looked at the video over Sergeant Harriman's shoulder. "I suspect the Town Council over there will be just as… _horrified, _as your young friend was, when you discovered that room."

"Yes, sir! I suspect so…" Dr. Jackson said as his face appeared on the M.A.L.P.'s video feed.

"How's he holding up?" General Hammond asked out of concern.

Dr. Jackson glanced over his right shoulder. "He's still pretty shaken up, but I think he'll be fine."

"Good!" General Hammond said. "Tell Col. O'Neill to report back to me by the end of the day…"

"Will do, sir! Jackson out!"

Daniel Jackson's face disappeared as he switched off the M.A.L.P.'s video camera. Back on Equus, the Stargate WHOOSHed as the wormhole was closed.

Despite his shock from their recent horrific discovery, Lancer stood in awe at what he had just seen. _"Incredible!" _he exclaimed. "A wormhole through space!"

"Yeah. I was just as amazed as _you_ are right now, when I first saw the thing open up." Dr. Jackson admitted. "Come on!" he then said as he patted his young friend on the shoulder. "We've still got a lot of work to do."

They then got their gear together and proceeded to hike back down the mountain towards Ponyville where they are to report their finding to the Mayor and the Town Council.


	8. Chapter 8 - Show Of Fire Power

**CHAPTER 8**

**SHOW OF FIRE POWER**

While Daniel Jackson and Lancer Bergeron were exploring the cave on Fire Mountain, a demonstration was being held at the Ponyville Police Department Shooting Range located outside of Ponyville.

That morning, Colonel O'Neill had asked permission from Sheriff Harding to take their weapons out of the police lock up to show the Mayor and the Town Council just exactly how powerful the weapons SG-1 carried really were. A quick phone call to the Mayor's office was enough to set up the demonstration for later on that morning, and SG-1's weapons were taken out of lock up so they could prepare for their demonstration.

Roughly two hours later, SG-1, Sheriff Harding, two of his Deputees, The Mayor and the Town Council were all gathered at the shooting range for the demonstration. The shooting range itself was in a pretty isolated area outside of Ponyville. This was necessary, for security reasons; the local authorities did not want to put any of the local residents in harm's way of any weapons testing that would take place. There was a surprise visitor also present that SG-1 didn't expect to see.

"Col. O'Neill, I'd like you meet a representative of our Federal Government!" Mayor Thunderhooves Jenkins as he gestured to the newcomer. "This is Slim Jim Brady, our President's Chief Of Staff."

"It's an honour to meet you, Col. O'Neill." The middle ages pony said as he extended a hoof out to him.

Col. O'Neill balled his fist and lightly touched the end of the outstretched hoof in what was called a 'hoof bump', which was their form of greeting. It took awhile for Col. O'Neill to learn this ritual, but he was finally able to grasp its meaning. "It's an honour to meet you _too, _sir." O'Neill told the Chief Of Staff.

"The President of North Equestria was unable to be here today, so I am here representing his Office… _and _I'm anxious to see what your fine weaponry can do."

"Well, it'll be a _pleasure _to show you what our weapons can do." O'Neill said with a proud smile.

Slim Jim Brady was a dark brown coloured pony with beige mane and tail who wore a dark grey jacket, white shirt and black tie, which symbolized his profession as a Politician. His talent mark was a pen and notepad symbol, thus symbolizing his talent in writing. Slim Jim Brady even later admitted that he was a Journalist before President Roundwood Reagan chose him to be his Chief Of Staff.

For this occasion, the SG-1 team members present wore their Air Force fatigues. The day was pretty cloudy, so Col. O'Neill didn't bother to put on his Air Force issue sunglasses; but he did wear his usual ballcap.

"_This _is a P-90 Assault Rifle." Col' O'Neill said as he showed the machine gun to all those present. "It's lightweight, and easy to carry. It has two settings: Single shot and automatic. While on the automatic setting, it can fire up to a two hundred rounds a minute. With proper training, one can find the mark with this rifle from a distance of up to _five hundred yards away!" _

Some of the Council members whistled and muttered at this revelation.

"_But _I like to say that actions speak louder than words, which is why Captain Samantha Carter here will now show you what a trained marksman can do with this rifle." He then motioned for Sam to proceed.

She nodded, then came to stand in front of one of several targets set up two hundred yards down range. After loading her P-90, she assumed the proper stance. She fired several single rounds at one of the targets, hitting the bull's eye every time. Some of the Council members cried out at the noise the P-90 made, but were amazed at how easily Samantha Carter found the mark every time. She smiled proudly at her own accomplishment.

"That was the _single shot _setting." Col. O'Neill said afterwards. "The _automatic _setting, I find, is what _truly _shows this rifle's power."

He then moved to stand in front of the target to the right of the one Sam shot at just a few moments prior, loaded the rifle and assumed the proper stance. He aimed and pulled the trigger. The sound of the rapid fire mechanism made several Council Members gasp as the rifle fired off round after round at the target, eventually disintegrating it completely.

Col. O'Neill let what he had just shown all of the ponies assembled sink in for a few moments before he spoke again. "_But _the P-90 is not the _only _weapon that SG-1 carries. I will now let Teal'c here demonstrate _his _weapon of choice."

Col O'Neill gestures for the big Jaffa to step forward. He showed his light smile as he nodded, then stepped forward. "_This _is a Jaffa staff weapon." He began as he showed the device to the assembled ponies. "It is given to every young Jaffa male once they are conscribed into the Jaffa Army. This particular weapon was given to me when I came of fighting age.

"It is powered using a special Goa'uld crystal, which can be located _here." _He pointed to a particular spot at the front of the weapon. "When you press the trigger mechanism, it delivers a powerful plasma blast that has proven time and time again to be _quite _destructive, as you shall now see…"

Teal'c then moved to stand in front of the remaining targets located down range. He assumed the proper stance and aimed the staff weapon. A static sound could be heard as he pressed the button next to the trigger to open up the front part of the weapon, revealing the barrel that was hidden inside. A loud WHOOSHing sound could be heard as the plasma shot exited from the staff weapon. An explosion could be seen and heard seconds later as the plasma blast completely destroyed the target Teal'c was aiming at. Teal'c completely destroyed all of the remaining targets in what was a fine show of the might of the Jaffa staff weapon.

This greatly amazed the Mayor and the members of his Council as they cried in awe at what they had just seen. Teal'c laid the butt of his staff weapon on the ground and stood proudly in front of the still astounded ponies.

"_So, _what did you guys _think?" _Col. O'Neill asked as he approached the Mayor and his Councilors.

"A most _impressive _display!" The Mayor answered. What say _you_, Mr. Brady?"

"_Incredible!" _Slim Jim Brady admitted. "I've never seen the like!"

"_But_, you should realize that, as a _peaceful_ people, we would not have much need for such fire power…" The Mayor admitted.

"All the same, I'd like to place a bid, on behalf of General Hammond, to put this planet under Earth's protection, should the Goa'uld decide to stick their noses into your planetary business."

The Mayor, the Councilors and Slim Jim Brady went into a huddle and muttered amongst themselves. A few moments later, Mayor Thunderhooves turned to face Col. O'Neill. "That can always be discussed at my office…" He said.

Col. O'Neill returned the nod. "Very well."

With that, the entire group left the shooting range to return to Ponyville. SG-1's weapons were placed back inside the police lock up, and the entire group headed to Town Hall for the promised talk about Equus being placed under Earth's protection, should it fall under attack from the Goa'uld.

* * *

Later that day, Daniel Jackson and Lancer were on their way to Town Hall to report their findings to the Mayor. They ran into the rest of SG-1 just as they left Town Hall from their talks about placing Equus under Earth's protection.

"Daniel!" Col. O'Neill exclaimed. "Aaaaaand… _Lancer, _right?"

The young stallion nodded. "Yes."

"Okay… I'm usually not very good with names… _So, _did you guys find anything in that cave?"

"As a matter of fact, we _did." _Daniel Jackson admitted.

"Oh? What'd'ya find?" Col. O'Neill asked.

"Here, let me _show _you…" Daniel Jackson said as he pulled out his video camera to show the rest of SG-1 what he and Lancer discovered.

"Good job, Daniel!" Col. O'Neill said after viewing the video. "Looks like you were _right _about there being a secret Goa'uld lab in that cave…"

"It also confirms my theory that Ra _did _conduct intelligence enhancing experiments on ponies almost two thousand years ago. That's definitely _his _writing on the walls of the lab…" Daniel said as he pointed to the imagery of the hieroglyphics he took. "We were just about to report this to The Mayor…"

"Well, then, don't let us _stop _you." Col' O'Neill said as he gestured towards the Town Hall's entrance.

"So do you think the Goa'uld are ever gonna come back here?" Samantha Carter asked just as Daniel Jackson was about to leave.

"If I know the Goa'uld" Teal'c said suddenly. "They will _eventually_ find reasonto return here…"

"Let's hope you're _wrong, _Teal'c. I'd hate to see anything _bad _happen to these people at their hands…_" _Dr. Jackson said softly as he proceeded to enter the Town Hall, followed by young Lancer Bergeron.


End file.
